I'll Stand By You
by Lady Callista
Summary: The Winter War is over, but Orihime is still haunted by nightmares of Hueco Mundo. She only feels safe when Ichigo is around, yet the more he is the harder it is for her to hide her feelings. Series: After the Winter War. Pairing: Ichigo/Orihime
1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The third main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Ichigo and Orihime, but like "No Warm Memories" and "Behind This Mask" will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. Also, it overlaps with the other two, starting at around the same point they did. You may recognize part of this chapter from both of those fics. Thanks to my awesome beta, KazeNoSakura.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 1: Beginnings

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Don't be ashamed to cry_

_Let me see you through_

_'Cause I've seen the dark side too_

_When the night falls on you_

_You don't know what to do_

_Nothing you confess_

_Could make me love you less_

_I'll stand by you_

"_I'll Stand By You" by the Pretenders_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Ichigo would hate to see that look on your face, Inoue." Rukia said quietly as she came up behind Orihime.

"I know." Orihime replied, not looking up from where she knelt over Ichigo, Soten Kisshun surrounding the unconscious boy. "But I hate knowing he's like this partly because he came to rescue me."

"He'll be fine." Rukia said quietly. "But now you understand how I felt when all of you came to Soul Society to rescue me. I went back to Soul Society willingly so that they wouldn't kill Ichigo. And then the idiot almost gets himself killed, multiple times, to rescue me."

Orihime nodded. "But Kurosaki-kun felt that was his fault."

Rukia nodded as she knelt next to her friend. "As he felt your capture was his fault. If he wasn't a Shinigami, if he could have controlled his reiatsu better, it's quite possible you would have never realized your powers and could be leading a normal life."

"Or my brother could have killed me." Orihime replied gently, thinking of the night Kurosaki-kun had saved her from her Hollowfied brother. "Besides, I've heard the Shinigami talking about some of the things Aizen revealed before he was killed, and that was never an option. It wasn't Kurosaki-kun that caused my powers."

Rukia conceded the point with a shrug. "We can never know what could have happened. Let's just be grateful that Aizen and his people were defeated and that we didn't lose that many of ours."

Orihime nodded, glancing over at Rukia as Ichigo stirred slightly and mumbled something indistinguishable. "What do you think he's dreaming about?"

Rukia shrugged as she stood up. "Hopefully something happy. He's had enough unhappiness in his life this past year." She turned to leave, but then glanced back at Orihime, who was starting to look pale. "You should take a break, Inoue. You've been healing one person or another ever since the last fight ended."

"It's only been about three hours. And so many people needed help." Orihime glanced back at Rukia. "I healed all of Kurosaki-kun's major wounds my first go-round, but he's just taken so much damage that I want to do more if I can."

Rukia smiled gently as she left. "He's lucky to have such a good friend."

Orihime frowned for an instant as she turned back to her work. Friend. But she wanted to be so much more than just his friend.

She focused on her work again as Ichigo twitched and mumbled her name.

"Inoue."

"It's okay, Kurosaki-kun." She whispered, hoping he could hear her. "You rescued me and you defeated Aizen. Everything's okay now." She focused on the healing shield, for anytime she let her mind wander it tried to drag her back to the nightmare of Hueco Mundo. Despite how exhausted she was from all the healing she'd been doing, she didn't think she was going to get much sleep.

_OoOo One week later oOoO_

"So, everything is pretty much back to normal." Orihime babbled to Sora as she knelt in front of her brother's shrine, speaking to him about her day as she still sometimes did. "We're all back in school again, which is so weird, and I don't think Tatsuki's really forgiven me yet since we didn't really tell her the whole truth about what happened to me, but I don't want her to worry, and, oh, and I'm sleeping a little better. I shouldn't have told you about that the night after the war ended, but I needed to talk to someone, and I don't want to burden anyone else with it, but the nightmares are so bad, and…"

A huge burst of reiatsu from very close by made her stop speaking abruptly.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime questioned out loud to the empty room even as she felt his reiatsu stop at her door a second before she heard a knock.

She went to the door quickly, surprised to find him there as a Shinigami. The way his reiatsu was spiking and fluctuating more than normal worried her.

"Kurosaki-kun, what's wrong?" Orihime asked at once as she gestured for him to come inside.

"I'm gonna kill him." Ichigo ranted as he began to pace. "I'm going to cut him into little pieces, and I'm going to scatter those pieces in the Dangai, and..."

"Kurosaki-kun." Orihime placed herself firmly in his path, forcing him to stop his pacing lest he run into her. "What happened?"

"Karin...she..." Ichigo tried to walk around her to start pacing again.

Orihime grabbed his arm as he did so, spinning him around with surprising force until he faced her again. "Karin-chan?" Her eyes were wide, her other hand unconsciously touching one of her barrettes. "What happened to Karin-chan?"

"She..." Ichigo could barely speak. "She _thinks_ she _likes_ him..."

Orihime stared at him for a second, blinked, then belatedly dropped his arm as she started giggling. "Karin-chan likes a boy? That's what this is about?"

Ichigo glared at her. "Not just any boy. Oh, no, nothing so simple as that for my sister."

Orihime stopped giggling long enough to look confused. "So it's a boy you know. But you've barely seen Karin in..."

"It's a Shinigami we both know." Ichigo resumed pacing.

Orihime's eyes widened and she did not resume laughing. "A Shinigami? Does she know what he is?"

"She sure does." Ichigo was scowling full force. "I don't think she really cares. She tried to talk to me about it, but I can't...I mean...I don't talk about stuff like that, and then...to talk to my sister about that..."

"You're talking to me about it." Orihime replied, not letting how surprised she was by that show in her voice.

"Well, I had to talk to someone or I was just gonna try to find him and kill him." Ichigo replied, looking at her. "Plus I was thinking maybe you could, I don't know, talk to her or something. I figure maybe she needs to talk to a girl, and it was pretty much you or Tatsuki, and I think you'll be better at it than her."

Orihime stared at him for an instant, amazed that such a long sentence had just come from his mouth. He must really be worried about his sister. And she could understand that perfectly. Although he was a Shinigami, he wasn't dead. For Karin to have a crush, or possibly more, on any of the other Shinigami seemed a pretty hopeless cause. Although her dream of Ichigo returning her love for him was probably a hopeless cause as well, and that didn't stop her from still hoping that one day it would happen.

"I'll stop by tomorrow after school if that's okay." She said with a smile.

"Sure, I'll make sure Karin's there." Ichigo replied as he began, yet again, to pace. "Although right now I need to go vent on some Hollows. Uh, thanks."

Orihime barely had time to nod before he jumped out her window.

Ichigo flew over the rooftops, on the lookout for Hollows. There had been more than normal showing up over the past week, probably attracted to all the echoes of reiatsu from the fighting. Of course now that he was looking for one he couldn't sense anything.

"She likes Toshiro." He mumbled to himself as he ran. "That's just so wrong. I suppose I should be glad it's not Renji, but still…"

He abruptly shifted directions, heading west as he felt something odd there. He drew his zanpakuto as he landed, disappointed to find only a normal spirit and not a Hollow. It was a little girl around the age of his sisters, which with the mood he was in bugged him.

"Hi there." Ichigo said gently as he slid Zangetsu back onto his back, not wanting to scare her.

"Onii-san, you can see me?" The child looked up from her swing.

Ichigo nodded as he sat down beside her. "So you've noticed that no one else can see you?"

She nodded sadly. "Mommy and Daddy can't see me, and they're both crying all the time."

"Do you want to go somewhere where people can see you?" Ichigo asked with smile. "It's a nice place, I promise."

"Will my parents be there?" The girl asked with hopeful eyes.

"I don't know, maybe." Ichigo lied to her. It wouldn't matter, because she would have no memory of her life anyway, and it would make it easier to convince her. "But there're lots of people there, and they'll all be able to see you."

The little girl smiled. "That would be nice. Where is it?"

Ichigo drew the sword off of his back, channeling his energy as he pointed the bottom of the hilt towards her. "You'll be there in a second." He whispered as he touched it to her forehead. "Konso."

The little girl vanished with a smile.

_That could be Karin one day. If she really wants to be with that Shini…_

Ichigo yelled at his inner Hollow to shut up. And people wondered why his temper had gotten worse. Anyone's would be with something like that inside them.

He took to the rooftops again, this time in an even worse mood. He didn't think he'd have liked Karin liking anyone, but for it to be a Shinigami…

_That's why older brothers are born first. So they can protect their little sisters._

The words he had said to the Hollow that had once been Inoue's brother came back to him.

But protect them from what? He wanted Karin to be happy, which she never really seemed like she was. But how could she be happy with a Shinigami? There was no way they could be together, unless Karin died, and even then they couldn't be together because she wouldn't remember anything that had happened before she died. And it wasn't like Toshiro could live in the real world either.

Why was he even thinking about this? He'd just have to make sure nothing ever came of…

Sensing what he could swear was another Shinigami, Ichigo used shunpo to arrive at what he knew was the edge of a soccer field Karin and her friends used sometime.

And was very surprised to find two red-heads walking towards him.

"Oi, Inoue, what are you and..." Ichigo trailed off as Inuoe and Matsumoto, _wait, why was she here?, _both froze, and he saw his sister on the field behind them, playing soccer with Toshiro.

"Bakudo Number 3 - Kuchiwa." Matsumoto managed to get the kido out before he could open his mouth to yell. She held her hand out as she cast it, and watched in amusement as the black cloth that formed wrapped itself around his mouth. Although she didn't know much kido, this was one of her favorites, for it worked very nicely on loudmouthed subordinates. And the nice thing about the kido as opposed to a real gag was that the kido was soundproof. As long as it covered his mouth, not a single sound he made would be heard.

He started to move towards her and she made another hand gesture. "Bakudo Number 1 - Sai."

Ichigo cursed even louder as his arms locked behind his back. He knew they couldn't hear him, but that wasn't really the point. He was about to gather his energy to break them when he heard Inuoe giggle.

"Um, Rangiku-san, I don't really think that will improve his mood."

"I know, but I'm more worried about my taicho's mood at the moment." Matsumoto replied. "I think he really likes her, and..."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her as she trailed off, probably because he was already glaring daggers at her.

"Look, Kurosaki, I know she's your little sister and all, but he's a good man." Matsumoto said seriously as she faced him. "He won't hurt her."

Ichigo gathered his energy and broke both of the kido she had cast. "Operative word being 'man.' Ever heard the phrase 'He's too old for her?'"

"Not in this way he's not." Matsumoto replied, doing whatever she could to keep him talking. She knew Hitsugaya would kill her if he heard what she was about to say. "He may be mature in most ways, but he's emotionally, well, stunted."

_Kinda like you, Kurosaki-kun, _Orihime thought as she watched the exchange with interest. At least Kurosaki wasn't screaming yet, or charging the field to kill Hitsugaya.

"That doesn't change the fact that she's just a little girl. And she's human..."

Matsumoto flinched. "Yeah, I know. Maybe it can work out somehow. But even if they're just friends..." She trailed off for a moment, glancing back and forth between the two teenagers in front of her. "You know how important it is to have friends."

Ichigo's glare faded, and he glanced at Inoue, allowing a small smile to appear on his face. "Friends, huh? Well, I'll still kill him if he hurts her."

"I think everyone involved in the situation is aware of that." Matsumoto replied dryly.

"Does that mean you're not going to hassle either of them?" Orihime spoke to him for the first time since he'd arrived.

"Karin doesn't have many friends, and it's not like she'll get to see him that much anyway." Ichigo replied gruffly, even though he had a faraway expression in his eyes. He'd seen Karin smile. Heard her laugh. He hadn't gotten to see much of that in the past few years. She had stopped laughing at the same time she stopped crying. It was why he worried about her, although of course he'd rarely said anything about it.

Matsumoto abruptly reached into her pocket as it started beeping and pulled out her transmitter. "Hollow."

"Yeah, I feel it." Ichigo replied, head whipping towards the south. "I'll go get it. At least I get to kill something tonight."

And with that he was off in a blur.

Orihime sighed as he left. "How did you do that?"

Rangiku laughed as she put her arm around Orihime and they started walking towards Orihime's apartment. "I've been dealing with Histugaya and his moods for a long time now. They actually have quite a bit in common, although I think either one would hurt me for saying so."

"Do they really?" Orihime wondered. "But how do you deal with it? I mean, the almost total lack of emotion, and the..."

"Just because they don't show their emotions to the world like you or I do doesn't mean they don't have them." Rangiku replied quietly.

Orihime was silent for a moment, thinking about that. Because she didn't show her emotions to the world. She showed the world a mask. A cheerful, happy mask. If she'd shown anything else people would have worried about her, and she never wanted people to do that. If Kurosaki-kun's gruff manner was a mask, what was underneath it?

"Are you ever going to tell Kurosaki how you feel about him?" Rangiku's voice intruded on the younger girl's thoughts.

Orihime's face flushed to almost the color of her hair as she whispered, "Does anyone other than Kurosaki-kun himself not know?"

Rangiku laughed. "It's not that bad, Orihime-chan. You did tell me after all. But, even so, you…you look at him the same way Karin-chan looks at my taicho. The same way I used to look at someone..."

"You've been in love, Rangiku-san?"

"Yes, and no." Rangiku sighed. "I loved someone who didn't exist. Someone who wasn't who I thought he was. I think he loved me, in a way, because he couldn't kill me. But that means he betrayed Soul Society, betrayed everything I thought he'd believed in, for something he couldn't kill me over. Something he cared about less than he cared about me. And half of the time I didn't think he cared about me all that much."

"Betrayed Soul Society? Then it was one of the three tai..."

"Gin." Rangiku whispered. "Ichimaru Gin."

Orihime shivered at the name. She remembered the man far too well.

"I can imagine what you must be thinking, but he wasn't always like that. At least, I didn't think he was. Orihime-chan, I really think you should tell Kurosaki." Rangiku said, wishing for sake. "Because I'm going to spend the rest of my life wondering if Gin would have turned out differently if I'd told him. I'm always going to wonder if I had to spend the past decades alone."

"But what if I tell him and he doesn't like me back?"

"Then at least you'll know." Rangiku replied, smiling. "I was talking with some of my friends the other night, and I joked that no man in Seireitei would say no to me if I wanted to date him. But I know of at least one who would. He's even colder and gruffer than taicho, or than Kurosaki, and he's not even my friend. I'm thinking of going after him just because it's a challenge. If I can do that, surely you can tell your friend, the one who basically followed you into hell just to rescue you, that you like him."

"Do you like this guy?" Orihime asked as she unlocked the door to her apartment, trying to keep the topic off of her and her hopeless love. Although she liked Rangiku a great deal, sometimes the woman was a little pushy. "Or is it just that it's a challenge?"

"Well, he's certainly handsome enough." Rangiku replied as she followed Orihime into the kitchen. "I'd have to see under his mask first though. And I think it'll be much harder to crack than my taicho's was."

"How _did_ you crack Hitsugaya-kun's?"

"A little bit at a time, sister. A little bit at a time."

* * *

TBC…

AN2: So my beta was slightly confused by Orihime's comment near the beginning that it wasn't Ichigo that caused her powers, and how the Shinigami were talking about things Aizen had revealed before he was killed. This is actually cannon (well, except for Aizen being killed, but I'm assuming he will be, lol), but as it's likely a spoiler for most people (unless you read the manga online) I didn't want to go into it too much. It won't really matter for the story, but it was a point I really wanted her to make. It was not, as many fans have always believed, Ichigo's lack of control of his reiatsu that made her and Chad have powers. And I don't want to spoil things beyond that.

Glossary:

Soten Kisshun: "Twin Sacred Return Shield." Orihime's healing shield.

Zanpakuto: The Shinigami's katana. Each is unique to its user.

Zangetsu: Ichigo's zanpakuto.

Onii-san: Technically "older brother." Often times used in common speech, especially by children I've noticed, to refer to strangers who are in their teens or twenties.

Konso: Soul burial. It sends a soul to Soul Society.

Dangai- the 'severed world' between Soul Society and the real world. It's how Ichigo and his friends get into Soul Society to rescue Rukia.

Bakudo: "Way of Binding." One of the two main types of kido. The first one used (3) was made up by me, the other is cannon.

Kuchiwa: literally "Muzzle," as in the thing you put on an animal to control them. (made up by me, not cannon)

Sai: "Restrain" (cannon)


	2. Nightmares

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Ichigo and Orihime, but will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. (For example, the conversation Orihime is thinking about her and Karin having had took place in No Warm Memories, chapter 3. As it was mostly about Karin/Toshiro, I didn't want to replicate it here, but there were a few comments about IchiHime that I wanted Orihime to reference.) Oh, and comments on how well/badly I'm keeping them IC would be helpful. Ichigo is surprisingly hard for me to write. Why do so many characters in Bleach seem to have private sides that are so different from how they act in public? And how can you show those sides while not getting accused of being too OOC?

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 2: Nightmares

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"Deep in my heart I'm concealing things that I'm longing to say. Scared to confess what I'm feeling, frightened you'll slip away. You must love me..." _

_Eva in "You Must Love Me" from the musical "Evita"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I dream about Kurosaki-kun as well. But I know he doesn't feel the same way about me. Rukia-san…"_

"_Actually, he was telling me less than an hour ago that him and Rukia-chan are only friends." _

Orihime woke with Karin's words from their talk the other day echoing in her head. Kurosaki-kun only thought of Rukia as a friend? Then maybe… but no, that didn't mean he didn't only think of her as a friend as well. He was just one of those people who would do anything for his friends, up to and including dying for them. It was one of the things she loved about Kurosaki-kun, although it did make her constantly worry about him.

Rangiku-san's advice to tell him popped into her head next, but even trying to imagine telling him made her blush. What could she say to him? It was all well and good for Rangiku to say that it was better to know than to wait and hope, but as long as she didn't know she could still _have_ hope. She could keep thinking that maybe one day…

Her alarm going off startled her out of her thoughts and she turned it off with a sigh as she got up and began to get ready for school. It still felt strange to be back in school, to be around regular people again. She'd spent so much time in that cell…

With a shake of her head, Orihime banished the nasty thoughts that were trying to rise up. It wasn't that hard during the day when the sun was shining brightly through her windows. It was at night that the panic and terror came back and wouldn't be banished. She'd actually slept with a light on every night since she'd gotten back, because waking up in the dark still caused a panic. It still made her think she was somehow back in Hueco Mundo.

But no, Kurosaki-kun had rescued her. Had saved her, as he always did. Everyone responsible was dead. She was safe.

Even knowing it was true, it took Orihime a few minutes to trample down the panic that tried to rise, and she pasted her happy mask on her face as she left for school.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I just wish she would tell us where she was all that time. What she was doing." Tatsuki said to one of her and Orihime's friends as they walked down the hallway, classes finished for the day.

"I know. I thought maybe she went on some kind of vacation, but she looks worse than before she left. There's just this look in her eyes sometimes, and she stares off into space even more than normal."

"I'm so worried about her. I keep offering to let her stay at my house, cause I know she's not sleeping well, but she won't, says that…" Tatsuki's voice faded off as they passed through the doors.

Ichigo stepped out the classroom nearest those doors, staring after the two girls thoughtfully. Inoue had seemed fine to him in class earlier, although the food she'd brought for lunch had been downright normal for her. He hadn't noticed any look in her eyes, and she'd always been a little spacey. It was so cute when…

No. Ichigo stopped that train of thought with a screech. She was his friend, and he had no right to think of her as cute.

_But she's so pretty. And that body…_

_Oh, shut the hell up._

Damn inner Hollow. Another reason he shouldn't think of Ori…of Inoue as cute. He'd lost it down in Hueco Mundo and hurt Ishida. None of them talked about it, but he knew what had to have happened. If Inoue had been hurt, if he'd hurt her without even _knowing_ it…

"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime questioned after he'd stood in the doorway for nearly a minute without moving. She'd been too far into the room to hear the girls.

"Oh, sorry." Ichigo said as he finished moving through the door, holding the outer door open for Orihime to pass through, which she did with a small smile.

They easily fell into step beside each other as they headed home, neither speaking for a few moments.

"So…um…does it feel weird to you to be back in school?" Orihime stammered finally, wishing he was really her boyfriend walking her home. Wishing she could hold his hand.

"A little." Ichigo replied, looking at her. "But I've kinda gotten used to fighting one minute and going to school the next."

"Yeah, I guess." Orihime smiled at him, unaware he was studying her, trying to see the things her friends had been talking about.

"How, uhh…how have you been?" He mumbled, casting sidelong-glances at her.

"I'm good, Kurosaki-kun." She chirped happily, working hard to make the smile twinkle in her eyes. "I'm just so glad the war is over."

She failed, but he didn't let on. "We all are. Maybe I'll actually have the time to do some of my homework this month."

They stopped at the gate to her building. "Well, um, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." He mumbled as he turned to walk the rest of the way home. He'd seen the flash in her eyes Tatsuki had mentioned, the flash that said the smile was fake. He'd seen her genuinely happy too often to not notice.

But why? She was back on Earth, none of her friends had died, and she was safe. Well, as safe as any of them ever were, knowing what they did about Hollows and attracting them occasionally, but… She was back, and everything was right, and the war was over, and… so why didn't the smile reach her eyes?

"Tadaima." He called out as he entered his house, planting a customary kick in his father's face when he tried to tackle him.

"Okaerinasai." His sisters called out from the table, bowls of ice cream in front of them despite the chill outside.

He went to move past them, up to his room, but Karin caught his shirt as he passed and pulled him down to say quietly, "You have company up in your room."

"Who?" He wondered why she was whispering, as his father would have been home when anyone came to the door.

"I don't know who he is, but I know _what _he is." Karin replied. "His reiatsu popped up a little bit ago, but I didn't worry as he was familiar."

Ichigo nodded, noticing the slight fear on her face. "It's over, don't worry." He said quietly as he went up to his room.

"Oi, Ichigo. How's been?" Renji's voice greeted him as he entered the room, depositing his book bag next to his desk.

"Fine." Ichigo plopped into his chair. "What's up?"

Renji smirked. "Yamamoto wants a report on how Hollow activity has been over the week since the war."

"Ah, to hell with that." Ichigo huffed. "Tell him they're all taken care of. They're not even much of a challenge."

"That really what you want me to tell him?"

Ichigo smirked. "Tell him whatever you want. We're dealing with it."

Renji nodded. "They'll be sending Jigokucho to you occasionally, want you to answer them. Try to answer at least a few, as I don't wanna get sent to Earth every month to check up on your ass."

"Why did you get forced to be the messenger?"

Renji shrugged. "Know the town, know the people, was bored in Seireitei. All the parties are over."

Ichigo laughed. "I'll try to answer at least a few. I don't wanna see your ugly mug every month either."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ichigo sat on the roof outside his window, invisible to most of the people who passed by. He'd been sitting there since dinner ended, watching the town, twice leaving to destroy Hollows he sensed. He should be in doing his homework. He should be in bed, even after a week it seemed like his body wasn't fully recovered.

Instead he debated with himself, as he'd been doing for nearly the last hour, on whether or not he should go check on Inoue. It wasn't like he knew what to say even if something was bothering her. Despite his favorite author, he didn't talk like that, he…

But his dream, no, his nightmare, from the night before suddenly came flooding back.

It hadn't been of not saving Inoue, although those nightmares sometimes came as well. No, his nightmare last night had been caused by the memory of chilling words spoken with no inflection, no emotion at all.

_That woman is already ours. Saving her is pointless. She may look the same, but how do you know we didn't change something inside of her?_

Orihime insisted they had never done any…experiments, never really even touched her except occasionally to manhandle her. The fact that he didn't believe her notwithstanding, the abuse from the two girls who had interrupted the fight seemed like a recurring thing, that didn't mean they hadn't done something to her. Somehow. The gods knew Aizen had possessed some of the strangest powers.

She insisted she was fine, even Unohana-taicho had said she was fine, but… No, she had to be fine. He had saved her. She was fine. There was no reason to check on her.

But she lived alone. If something was wrong, how would anyone know?

Pissed at himself for his indecision, she was a friend and he was just making certain she was okay, Ichigo shot off the roof and into the night.

Moments later he arrived at her building and glanced up towards her window, surprised to see her light still on despite the fact that it was almost midnight. Maybe she _was_ having trouble sleeping. He sprang up to the open window, surprised to find her futon spread and her in it, seemingly asleep despite the light. She must have just forgotten to turn it off.

He was about to leave, feeling foolish, when she began to shake and cry out in her sleep.

Ichigo stepped into the room without thought and crossed to her.

Caught in the throes of a nightmare, Orihime screamed when a hand grabbed her shoulder, and sat bolt upright as she gasped for breath, trying to banish the taunting, lilting voice of the traitor who had taken delight in tormenting her.

"Inoue, it was just a dream." Ichigo knelt, feeling helpless as tears leaked down her face.

"Memories…" She mumbled, not yet fully awake. "Nightmares of…I…Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo glanced away sheepishly. "I was going by, saw your light on. You shouldn't fall asleep with the light on."

Orihime glanced away, pulling the blanket up to her neck, conscious of the fact that her yukata often gaped open when she tossed and turned. "Um…I…" She tried frantically to stop her tears from falling, to stop her body from shaking.

Ichigo reached out without thought and put a hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes snapped to him, and although she had stopped shaking she was still crying silently. "I…I don't like the dark much anymore." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Inoue…I…"

"You should go home, I, I'll be fine." Orihime cut off whatever he had been about to say. She couldn't deal with him being here, with him trying to be sweet. She was too fragile at the moment, too upset to put on her smiling face.

His voice was just as quiet as hers. "I could stay until you fall asleep."

"No, Kurosaki-kun, you shouldn't worry about me, you need to sleep too, and…"

"I won't sleep anyway, worrying about you." Ichigo said gruffly, his hand falling away from her shoulder. "You, you can talk to me if you want. Since you can't tell your friends."

"Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime's voice shook, unable to believe what he was saying. If she couldn't feel his reiatsu she wouldn't have believed it was him.

"The war was bad for all of us, but at least we were together. For you, all alone there, not knowing if we even knew where you were…" Ichigo couldn't look at her, and still couldn't believe what he was saying. He didn't talk like this. This wasn't him. But she had looked so fragile sitting there, trembling and crying.

"I think part of me knew you would come for me." Orihime whispered, blushing as red as her hair. "Part of me wanted you to, but the rest of me didn't. I left so they wouldn't hurt you…you all."

"It's not your job to protect me." Ichigo replied, "That's my job."

Orihime managed a slightly hysterical laugh. "You may protect all of us, but who protects you? Shouldn't I be allowed to think of you?"

Ichigo finally turned to face her again. "And your reward is nightmares."

"They're not that bad." Orihime lied badly.

"Inoue, just let me stay. You know I won't let anything happen to you." Ichigo met her gaze firmly.

"I…" Orihime really wanted him to stay, part of her calming down at the knowledge that he would be standing guard while she slept. But she didn't want to impose on him like that; he'd already done so much for her, she already owed him so much. Plus something in her was just mortified by the fact that it was midnight and she was alone in her apartment with a boy.

"You're not the only one who's had nightmares."

Orihime's eyes widened at the whispered words, and her heart melted at the confession. Unable to say no to the lost look in his eyes, she lay back down, turning onto her side to put her back to him. She knew she'd never be able to sleep if she was facing him, for she wouldn't want to stop looking him. "I…I don't want to talk about it. Not, not yet anyway. I…I haven't forgotten enough."

Ichigo touched her shoulder again, briefly, before settling himself more comfortably next to her futon. "Just think of something nice for now."

"Kurosaki-kun…thank you." Orihime whispered as she felt herself begin to drift off. She hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in a week, waking often from the frequent nightmares and then being afraid to fall asleep. She knew she would sleep if he was there.

Think of something nice.

Orihime imagined him sliding into the futon beside her, his arms folding her against his firm chest. Minutes passed, and she began to doze off as she held on to her happy thought. He was about to kiss her when the voice of the real him, still sitting a foot away from her, spoke almost inaudibly. He probably thought she was asleep already.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you better, Orihime."

_Her name_. Her name falling from his lips sent a shock of joy through her, but she was too drained to do more than smile a real smile as she drifted off to sleep.

"Ichigo-kun…" She whispered into her dreams.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

He was still there when she woke, propped against the wall like a samurai out of a movie, Zangetsu resting by his side. Even in sleep, his hand was on the hilt. Protecting her.

Orihime sat up, taking a moment to just stare at him. She hadn't woken once, or had another nightmare; somehow even in sleep she'd known he was there. Now she reached out, running a finger lightly down his cheek, a slight thrill running through her at the liberty. He stirred, and she quickly drew back.

"Oi…what…Inoue, morning already?" Ichigo sat up, stretching muscles slightly cramped from how he'd slept.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun." She whispered shyly.

"No more nightmares?" He asked with a smile as he stood.

Blushing, Orihime shook her head. "Thank you. You shouldn't have to…"

"I'll see you at school, okay?" Ichigo was already moving towards the window. She looked so cute, mussed from sleep, stuttering slightly, obviously embarrassed that he was there, but also obviously grateful. He had to get away from her before he did something stupid. His eyes tracked her lips as she licked them nervously, and he perched on the windowsill quickly, turning his back to her.

"Yes, at school." Orihime managed to mutter as he left.

* * *

TBC...

AN2: I kinda feel like this is going too fast, but I don't wanna bore people with day-to-day interactions and Orihime pining over him either… Thanks again to my beta; it's always nice to have someone catch those few mistakes you make cause the plot bunnies are jumping around making you write too fast. (Oh, and there was one thing she pointed out that I didn't change, as it was intentional. It's something Renji said, and he's not known for having the best grammar, lol. I did the same when I wrote flashbacks of Gin in BTM.)

Glossary:

Tadaima: traditional phrase spoken when returning home, basically just "I'm home."

Okaerenasai: traditional response, "Welcome home."

Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls, where the Shinigami live in Soul Society

Jigokucho: literally Hell Butterfly, the Shinigami use them like messenger pigeons.

Reiatsu: Spirit energy


	3. Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter.

Author's Notes: I mentioned before that this may have spoilers for some of you, but thought I would make sure everyone remembered that, as this chapter and the next one will feature _major_ spoilers from episode 272 of the anime. (Some parts are a downright retelling of part of the ep, in fact.) Also minor spoilers for up through 404 of the manga. Thanks to those who reviewed, I'm glad to hear things are moving at about the right pace and people are mostly IC.

Oh, and this chapter actually gets a dedication. This is for you, CrazyAce, for two reasons. One: for being awesome with reviewing, and for giving me a new couple idea: Uryuu/Nemu. Not that I'll have time to do that for a while, and I'm not sure I can get in their heads anyway, but it's an idea. And Two: Because she told me one of her favorite quotes from Bleach, which means she's gonna totally love part of this chapter.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 3: Memories

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"Kurosaki-kun is trying to save me because I called out to him. Why? I didn't want to get in his way, so I trained myself. I wanted to protect him, so I came here alone. So why? Why do I always end up relying on Kurosaki-kun in the end?" _

_Inoue Orihime, Bleach episode 272 _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Good morning, Inoue-san." Ishida said as she took her seat in front of him.

"Good morning, Ishida-kun." Orihime made herself smile at him as an image flashed through her head of Zangetsu sticking out of his chest. It would have been her fault if…

"You seem a little happier today." Ishida commented quietly as other students began taking their seats around them.

Orihime glanced over towards Ichigo's desk, noting that he wasn't there yet. She hoped he wasn't going to be late because he'd been helping her. "I…I'm fine, what do you mean?"

"Inoue, you don't have to pretend with me." Ishida said it quietly, but his eyes held hers firmly.

Orihime flushed as he looked at her; she had forgotten what it felt like to have his quiet intensity focused on her. And she had forgotten just how perceptive he could be. "I'm sure none of us are fine after what we went through, but I'll be okay, really."

"Inoue…"

Whatever Ishida had been about to say trailed off as a female voice shouted, "Orihime-chan!"

Orihime reacted with blind panic as she was grabbed from behind. Tatsuki's voice screaming at Chizuru didn't register, nor did the fact that the hands that had grabbed her were gone after only an instant. In her mind they were not human hands, not the hands of a girl who had done this to her many times before. They were the hands of…

Ichigo was almost to the classroom door when he heard Inoue scream, terror in her voice. He charged into the room expecting to find, well he wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't what he found.

Tatsuki and one of the other girls were dragging a struggling Chizuru away from Inoue, who stood with her hands raised, Ishida's grip on her wrists likely the only thing that had stopped her from touching her barrettes and activating her power. Chad stood beside her, facing the other girls, two overturned desks beside him indicating how hastily he had sprung to her defense.

"Kurosaki-san, move."

Ichigo quickly stepped into the room as his teacher's voice spoke behind him, and he followed the woman as she crossed the room to Inoue's side, everyone moving out of her way.

Inoue had collapsed to her knees, shaking slightly, and Ishida knelt in front of her with his hands still lightly on her wrists. He seemed to be saying something to her, and Inoue's head began to shake back and forth.

"Inoue-san, what happened?" Their teacher asked as she pushed a desk out of the way and knelt beside the trembling girl.

"Nothing… she just surprised me… I'm sorry." Orihime knew her face had to be as red as her hair, so she kept her head down as she answered her teacher quietly. She knew everyone in the class had to be staring at her, and she felt Kurosaki-kun there as well. Why did she always have to be so weak? Why couldn't she just get past what had happened?

"Are you sure? Do you want to go to the nurse? Or just go home for the day?"

The fact that her teacher would even make the offer told Orihime just how bad she'd been doing at hiding how she was feeling. "No, I…"

"I'll take her to my father's clinic, he's treated her before." Ichigo cut her off brashly.

"Kurosaki-kun, I…" Orihime's voice trembled as she spoke slightly louder, and she felt Ishida's hands slide down from her wrists to grip her hands comfortingly for an instant before he pulled back from her.

Orihime let that bit of strength flow into her, took a deep breath, then turned and raised her head enough to look at the boy she loved. "I'm alright, Kurosaki-kun. Like I said, she just startled me."

Orihime saw him about to protest, and locked her pleading eyes on his. The scene she'd created was bad enough, but if she went home everyone would make even more of it. And if she wasn't in school today it would be easier to not go tomorrow. And the day after that.

Ichigo caught the look in her eyes, and realized that pushing things would only embarrass her more. He nodded, although he did reach a hand out to help her to her feet.

Orihime's eyes widened as she took his hand and rose to her feet, releasing him quickly and dropping down into her seat, eyes firmly focused on the desk. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned just enough to see him helping their teacher to her feet as well. It was so like him that a tiny smile almost made it to her lips.

"Well, what are you all standing around for?" The voice of her teacher barked. "Why aren't you in your seats?"

The room was suddenly filled with the bustle of students moving hurriedly, and Orihime sank a little lower into her seat, almost wishing that she had taken her teacher up on the offer to just go home today. Everyone would be bugging her at lunch, asking her what was wrong, and…

"It's okay, Inoue." Kurosaki-kun's voice came quietly from above her. "Nothing is ever going to happen to you again. Your friends won't let it."

Orihime managed to nod, letting him know she'd heard him, but she couldn't bring herself to respond. If what Aizen had told them was true, if her powers had truly come from the Hogyoku, then why wasn't she stronger? If it truly gave you what you most wanted, why was she still so powerless? Why did everyone always have to protect her? And despite how much she hated that Ichigo always had to protect her, why did it make her heart so full to know that he always would?

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Symptoms of intrusive memories may include:

-Flashbacks, or reliving the traumatic event for minutes or even days at a time

-Upsetting dreams about the traumatic event

Symptoms of anxiety and increased emotional arousal may include:

-Trouble sleeping

-Being easily startled or frighte…"

"Ichigo, what are you doing?"

His father's voice startled Ichigo, and he quickly looked up from the book he'd been reading. He sat at his father's desk in the clinic, several psychology books he'd found among his dad's medical books scattered about, open to various pages. "Just… uh…"

Isshin moved closer, reading the title of the page his son was currently looking at. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. " He made a non-committal sound. "I hope you're only doing research for school."

"Um… yeah." Ichigo took the easy way out his father had offered. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Well, I know it takes time to develop. And most of the symptoms appear in anyone who went through something traumatic." Isshin said as he sat down across from his son.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked as he closed the book, looking up at his suddenly serious father.

"By definition, you have to have been experiencing the symptoms for about a month before it's diagnosed as PTSD. All the feelings and reactions are normal to have after you go through something traumatic. It's only if you don't deal with them that they keep occurring."

"How do you deal with them?" Ichigo asked intently.

"You're taking this very personally for a school project." Isshin said with a tilt of his head. "Or is it more than that?"

Ichigo met his father's gaze firmly. "If you really want to start playing 20 Questions, I get to go first."

Isshin held the gaze a moment before chuckling. "Fair enough, my son. It depends on the person and exactly what they went through, but the most important thing for most people is to know they have friends and family supporting them. Even though most people don't want to talk about traumatic experiences, it's very healthy to do so. Repressing things and keeping them to yourself is one of the worst things you can do."

"Anything else?"

"Many times the patient will develop phobias of things that trigger memories of the trauma. Working through these is also important, because sometimes the phobias will stick around for life, even if true PTSD never manifests." Isshin replied, knowing what he had to say next would be hard for his son to hear. "You can't fight the battle for the person; you can't protect them from what's in their own head. All you can do is be there for them."

"_I don't like the dark much anymore…"_

Inoue's whispered confession echoed in Ichigo's head, and he nodded his head as he rose and started putting away the books. "Uh, thanks dad."

Isshin studied his son's back for a moment before saying quietly, "I hope you can help your friend. I won't worry if you're gone all night again."

Ichigo spun around to confront his father, but the man had already vanished.

_You can't protect her from what's in her own head._

He'd just see about that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"How were the kids today?" Ichigo asked as he walked into the kitchen, glancing down at the table she had mostly ready for dinner. There was none of her strange cooking tonight, but nice and normal sukiyaki.

"They were great. I just love teaching at that school." Orihime smiled, turning away from the window and the beautiful view of Tokyo Bay to face her husband.

"I'm glad you found something you love." Ichigo said as he crossed the room to her and drew her into a gentle hug.

"Besides you, you mean?" Orihime giggled as her arms slid around him tenderly.

Orihime pulled back from the hug a moment later, popping a pastry into her mouth.

"This one's amazing, Orihime." Ichigo said as he finished chewing a small cream puff.

Orihime reached into the basket sitting next to them on the blanket and pulled out a selection of fruit tarts. "I'm just so nervous. The pastry shop opens next week, and I'm still not sure which deserts are good enough to serve people."

"Well, the puffs filled with red bean paste you made the other week are probably not a good choice, but everything else has been good." Ichigo replied as he reached over and brushed away some sakura petals that had fallen into her hair.

Orihime caught his hand and held it for a moment, unable to help glancing over his shoulder at the impressive old Imperial Palace. "No red bean paste. Check."

"Red bean paste?"

Orihime turned to find herself facing a clerk from an ice cream shop that had a confused look on his face.

"No, um… you know what?" Orihime said with a grin. "Give me one of each."

"One of each what?" Ichigo asked as they cuddled on the couch. The Osaka dialect of a news anchor was a dull murmur in the background.

"Nothing, I was just thinking." Orihime replied, tilting her head up to kiss him softly.

"Now's not the time to be thinking, love, concentrate on the mission." Ichigo replied, glancing over at her as she finished putting on the helmet of her spacesuit. He couldn't believe that in a few minutes they were going to be walking on the moon.

"Mission?" Orihime glanced over at Ichigo as they walked down the street together, a light breeze from the Sea of Japan playing with her hair.

"Didn't you say you had an important stop to make on the way home?" Ichigo smiled at her, his eyes flickering briefly down to her rounded belly. "Something you've been wanting to do for a while but thought today would be good for?"

"That's right." Orihime smiled back at him as she marched determinedly into Mr. Donut.

The door closed behind her with a bang, and she spun to face Ichigo in his full Hollow form. Ishida's corpse lay at her feet, Zangetsu sticking out of him, and she knew that Kurosaki-kun would never come back, never be who he was, and it was all her fault. A cero began to build between his horns, and she screamed his name louder than she had ever screamed in her life.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"KUROSAKI-KUN!"

Ichigo jolted awake as she screamed his name, banging his head on the windowsill as he leapt to his feet.

Inoue sat upright in her bed, and even as he watched she pulled her legs up to her chest and dropped her head onto her knees, looking for all the world like a small child curled up into a ball. A ball that was shaking and sobbing.

"Inoue." He said her name quietly, not wanting to scare her, and although her head whipped up to look at him, she didn't scream again.

"Kurosaki-kun." She whispered, one hand trying to wipe the tears from her face while the other clenched the blanket tightly around her. "Why are you here again?

"You seemed to sleep better when I was here." He saw the same embarrassment on her face that he'd seen the night before, as well as something else he didn't understand. "Do you want me to stay again?"

Orihime let out a frustrated sound at the neutral tone of his voice. "Why am I the only one who can't deal with what happened? Why am I the only one who's this weak?" She knew her own voice was close to whining but couldn't help it.

Ichigo crossed the room to kneel beside her futon. "I'm having nightmares too. And you're not weak. In some ways you're stronger than any of us."

Orihime's eyes widened in confusion, causing more tears to fall. She brushed at them in annoyance as his hand started towards her face, but fell away without touching her. "I'm not the strong one." She whispered.

"What would have happened if they'd tried to kidnap Rukia? Or Chad? Or me? We would have fought them, most likely to the point that we would have been killed. What you did was harder. You let them take you, and you trusted us to save you." Ichigo said softly, wishing she hadn't buried her head in her knees again.

"They said they would kill you if I didn't go with them."

Ichigo could barely make out her mumbled words but chuckled slightly when she spoke. "That wouldn't have mattered; the idea that I could lose wouldn't have occurred to me."

"It wouldn't have mattered if I'd fought them and won." Orihime took a deep breath and looked up at him. "If they didn't return, they said you would be killed as well."

Ichigo was trying to follow his father's advice, trying to get her to talk about things, but damn was it hard. He just didn't have the personality to be someone's counselor.

Yet even to him, it was obvious that talking about her kidnapping was bothering her. But she _was _talking, which his father said was good. So he tried changing tactics.

"So that means you saved my life, right? Then I guess we're even." It took effort to put humor into his voice, but he hoped it would help.

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers. "You've saved me so many times. You… you almost died saving me. And I almost got Ishida ki…" The image of Ichigo in full Hollow form flashed through her head again, and she stopped speaking with a moan.

Ichigo's hands both clenched into fists unconsciously, and he had to force himself to relax them. "Will you tell me what happened? I don't remember any of it." Maybe it would be easier for her to talk about that than her kidnapping, or her time alone there, although his father's voice in the back of his head told him those were the things they should be talking about. But he had to know.

"It was my fault. It was all my fault. I rely on you too much, and…" Orihime trailed off with a sob, letting her head drop back to her knees. The sudden hand on her shoulder didn't scare her, it seemed nothing could scare her when he was around, but it did cause her to look back up at him.

"I remember Ulquiora punching a hole through my chest, then nothing until I woke up with you kneeling next to me. Ulquiorra was mostly dead, and Ishida… Whatever happened, I think I'd be dead if it hadn't. If you say it's your fault, then that just means you saved my life again. Please, tell me."

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

_"Kurosaki-kun...there were so many things I wanted to do. Become a teacher, or an astronaut, or open a pastry shop, or go to Mr. Donuts and say 'Give me one of each,' or go to the ice cream shop and say 'Give me one of each.' If only there were five of me. Then I could be born in five different towns, and eat five different meals, and have five different jobs... And all five of me could fall in love with the same guy. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. Goodbye."_

_-Inoue Orihime in "Bleach 237: goodbye, halcyon days"_

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC…

* * *

AN2: Just had to use the end quote, as it's one of my favorite quotes in the entire series. It was fun building a dream around it, and I hope I didn't confuse too many of you. Although I am kinda curious how long it took various people to figure out what was going on. (I was hoping most people would get it by the 'give me one of each' at the ice cream shop if nothing else.) It got too wordy when I actually tried to get in 5 jobs, 5 meals, and 5 towns on top of the specific references she makes, but I did what I could. And I'm once again worried about OOC in this chapter, I think it's gonna be a constant worry with this fic, but for the most part I think I've just finally accepted that writing romance in the Bleach world means making them a little OOC and just keeping it as close to IC as you can. Reviews are enjoyed almost as much as new chapters of the manga are.


	4. Friends

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything.. I am making no money from this, I just love inserting romance into one of my favorite series. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: Angst warning, although turbo sweetness as well. And again, spoilers for anime ep 272. Thanks to all who reviewed; I sent most of you personal replies, but I never seem to get to everyone, so my general reply to everyone is here. Thanks so much. Just seeing the traffic numbers on a story makes me happy, but reviews are even better because it lets me know what people like and don't like about the story, and what things they would like to see in the future. Thanks also to my lovely beta Kaze-chan. Spelling and word choice errors annoy me so much, but I'm usually writing so fast that I end up with a few; now I have someone to fix them. So thanks again hon.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 4: Friends

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_I can't protect you without holding a sword. I can't embrace you while holding a sword._

_-Bleach, manga 5 opening_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"I remember Ulquiora punching a hole through my chest, then nothing until I woke up with you kneeling next to me. Ulquiorra was mostly dead, and Ishida… Whatever happened, I think I'd be dead if it hadn't. If… if you say it's your fault, then that just means you saved my life again. Please, tell me."

Orihime was silent for over a minute, and Ichigo was about to speak again when one of her hands slowly slid up and covered his where it still rested on her shoulder. He took her hand gently in his own and rested them on the futon between them.

"Please don't interrupt me. I don't want to have to think about it for longer than…" Orihime glanced at him enough to see him nod, then stared straight ahead for a moment before closing her eyes and starting to speak in a detached voice. "After he hit you and you collapsed, I screamed your name. You couldn't be dead, you just couldn't. I screamed your name, over and over. I…I begged you to save me. There was this spike in reiatsu…and then…I don't know. It was still you, but it wasn't. Ulquiorra…he…he said you'd turned into a full Hollow. You didn't respond to anything he said when he tried to talk to you, and the two of you fought. You were strong, even stronger than you normally are, and… and you beat… beat him. You…"

"Don't water it down." Ichigo whispered despite remembering her comment not to interrupt. He could tell she'd been about to censor herself, and he didn't want that.

"You cut him almost in half with your sword, and once he was down you shot a cero into him. He seemed unconscious, but you still put your sword to his throat. Ishida-kun tried to step in, he said that if you kept on the way you were you wouldn't be human anymore, but you… you stabbed him... stabbed Ishida-kun with Zangetsu."

Orihime clutched his hand briefly, emotion beginning to show in her voice again. She just couldn't keep herself detached as she told this story.

Ichigo did his best to keep his expression blank, and gave her his full attention. He'd asked her to relive this; he'd made her remember something that had obviously traumatized her. The least he could do was not make it worse for her by reacting in a way that bothered her. And since he had no idea why she was reacting how she was, he didn't know if anything he did would make it better or worse. So he kept his face blank, although he did squeeze her hand comfortingly. Although she squeezed back, she did not start speaking again, and after only a second of hesitation he reached out with his other hand until her hand was held between his palms.

"You… you looked at me for the first time since you…changed. And you spoke for the first time as well. You…" Orihime trailed off with a sob, resting her head on her knees for a moment as she tried to regain some semblance of composure.

"I…I'm sorry for asking. You don't have to…"

"You said the word 'save' over and over. And then it seemed like, just for an instant, you knew who I was. And you said 'I'll save you.' Then… then Ulquiorra cut off part of your mask, and you collapsed. You changed back to looking human… and… I don't know how, but the hole in your chest just closed up. Then you woke up and looked at me, and the first thing you asked me was if I was okay. You had almost died because of me, and all that mattered to you was that I was okay…" Orihime allowed the tears to come fully now, past caring if he saw her like this. She'd done everything she could to avoid reliving those few moments, even in her head, and having suddenly spoken of it had brought all the images back.

Ichigo reacted without thought as she tucked her head onto her knees again and began crying her heart out. He scooted up onto the futon beside her and drew her gently into his arms.

He didn't know what to say, he didn't even know if anything he could have said would have helped at this point, so he just held her.

And even with the situation being what it was, he couldn't help the slight thrill that coursed through him at the feel of her in his arms, her head resting on his chest as she continued to cry.

Uncounted moments passed before he realized she was trying to speak through her tears, and he strained to understand what she was saying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was my fault Ishida almost died. My fault you changed into… if he hadn't cut your mask… if you hadn't come back… if I'd been stronger… if I didn't have to depend on you…" Orihime was barely aware of what she was saying, and while on one level she was barely aware that she was being held in his arms, another part of her was painfully aware of it.

She'd dreamed of him holding her like this for so long, yet in the dreams it had been because he loved her. Not because he felt sorry for her, which had to be why he was doing it now. He was offering comfort, and while she was grateful for that, it only made her cry harder because she didn't want pity; she wanted love. She wanted to be strong enough to be his equal, his partner in all things. Not just some little girl he felt obligated to protect.

"What's wrong with depending on me?" Ichigo asked quietly when she stopped babbling for a moment. "What's wrong with letting me protect you?"

"Because I don't want you to feel obligated to protect me. I want to protect you. Ichigo, I…" Orihime pulled back from him with a jerk, burying her face in her knees again. "Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry, I…"

"I think I liked 'Ichigo' better." He said softly, feeling her retreat from him on more than just the physical level. "After all we've been through…"

Orihime couldn't help but look up at him, and this time when his hand reached out towards her he didn't pull back, but gently brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears.

"Orihime…" He said her name softly, like a prayer, and couldn't understand why she started crying again. "I suppose I do feel obligated to protect you, but you say that like it's a bad thing. I feel obligated to protect all my friends. But an obligation doesn't have to be something a person resents, and that isn't the only reason. I…"

Orihime's eyes were as wide as saucers by the time he trailed off, and her cheek was still tingling from where he had touched her. So many thoughts were racing through her mind that she barely caught his whispered words.

"I just couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

Orihime turned bright red and broke eye contact to look down at her knees again.

Ichigo, red faced as well, cleared his throat roughly as he slid back onto the floor beside her futon, although what he really wanted to do was take her in his arms again. "Thanks, uh, for telling me what happened. I know it was hard for you."

"I understand why you wanted to know." Orihime whispered.

"Can I ask you something else?" There was a tension in the room that hadn't been there before, and Ichigo had no idea why. Although her expression and body language still radiated fear and sadness, there was something in her eyes that had changed.

"I don't want to relive anything else from Hue…"

"No, not that." Ichigo replied quickly. "Well, not exactly. Did… before you went down there, did you… were you in my bedroom?"

Orihime turned even redder, which he hadn't thought was possible, and he could see a dozen expressions flash over her face before she nodded briefly.

"You healed me."

Orihime nodded again, refusing to look at him. She knew he would want an explanation, and her mind was working frantically on what exactly to tell him. She certainly couldn't tell him everything.

"How? I mean, if they took you from the gate, and this was after that…" This, of all things, had been bothering Ichigo for a while. The fact that she had been in his room after supposedly being kidnapped was what had made Soul Society call her a traitor and refuse to send people to rescue her, yet he knew there was an explanation. She had already told him they had threatened to kill her friends if she didn't go with them, but why would they have let her visit one of those friends? And why in the dead of night?

"They, they told me I could say goodbye to one person." Orihime said quietly. "After they took me, they said I could see one person before I left the world with them, but I couldn't allow that person, or anyone else, to see me or know I was there. It kinda felt like I was on death row and being offered my final meal."

Ichigo decided not to ask why she'd chosen him. He had an inkling as to what the answer would be, and didn't think either of them was ready for those words to be spoken out loud.

Contrary to how most people saw him, he was actually very perceptive; he just didn't know how to express what he perceived in words. He didn't know how to talk about feelings, but he knew when they were there.

Although he would have had to be very dense indeed to not pick up on her feelings, especially during her retelling of the fight, he ignored them for the moment because he didn't know how to respond.

His inner Hollow screaming at him to take the opening this offered was the other reason he didn't ask the question. For all the fighting that she'd been around, he knew very well that Orihime hated fighting. It was why her power was to protect and to heal. And it was a pretty safe bet that he would be fighting for the rest of his life, and afterlife.

"And you still say you're not strong." He replied quietly, although he did try to make the conversation slightly lighter by adding, "Although I almost wish you had woken me up and let me fight the bad guys right then and there."

"I did it so you wouldn't have to fight." A slight tremor of anger ran through Orihime's voice. "I did it to protect you; for once I got to be the one protecting you. And then you had to come save me, and almost get yourself killed. I just wanted to keep you safe…"

"Everything worked out in the end." Ichigo replied, reaching out again to take her hand. "I just wish I could destroy your nightmares the way I did the Espada." Uselessness wasn't something Ichigo was used to feeling, yet his dad's words echoed in his mind. He couldn't kill her nightmares. No matter how strong he was, no matter how much he wanted to protect her, this wasn't something he could fight. He could only be there for her, which was something he wasn't used to.

"It helps when you're here." Orihime mumbled without thought. "It helped when you held me." It took her barely a second to realize what she'd just said, and she dropped her head to her knees for the umpteenth time that night, wondering if it was really possible to die from embarrassment.

Ichigo felt a warmth spreading through him at her words and didn't resist his first impulse. He rose for a moment, crossing to the window to retrieve Zangetsu from where he'd left him propped against the wall, and laid him down next to the futon. Orihime's head was still buried in her knees, and he said her name quietly, not wanting to startle her.

Orihime glanced up as her name fell from his lips, and he held her eyes as he sat on the futon beside her, one hand reaching out slightly awkwardly to rest on her back.

"Orihime, I'll always be here for you." Ichigo said softly. "No matter what you need, I'll always be here."

"No, you should go home, you…" Orihime protested, although it was half-hearted. There was something in his eyes and in his expression that said this was more than him feeling sorry for her. His next words confirmed that.

"When you first woke up, you asked me why I was here. It wasn't just that you seemed to sleep better last night when I was here, like I said." Ichigo whispered as he slid a little closer to her, the hand on her back starting to rub light circles. "I fell asleep doing homework, and had a nightmare. I didn't save you. I didn't get to you in time. And even though I knew you were safe, I had to see you. I had to be sure."

"Ichigo-kun…"

"Let me stay, please. Let… let me hold you." Ichigo felt his cheeks flame red, but there was no going back now. "I think we'll both sleep better."

Orihime nodded before she could reason herself out of it. It was one of her dreams come true, and even if the circumstances were not exactly ideal, the idea of falling asleep in his arms, of having him close to her, holding her… well, it was beyond perfect.

Ichigo reached for a corner of her blanket awkwardly, and she quickly moved to untangle herself from it, sliding away a little to give him more room.

After several awkward moments of adjusting and a few nervous giggles on her part, Ichigo lay on his back in her bed, his arms gently around her. Orihime pillowed her head on his chest as she curled into his side, one hand resting lightly over his heart.

Exhausted from the emotional stress of their earlier conversation, as well as the fact that other than the previous night she hadn't slept well in a week, Orihime could already feel herself drifting off to sleep.

Ichigo was tired as well, although he wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep. His thoughts were so full of the girl in his arms. He wanted to hold her tighter, he wanted to kiss her, he… No, that wasn't what she needed. He was her friend, and even though he was fairly certain she wanted him to be more than that, a friend was what she needed.

He thought of what she'd said earlier - of how even in full Hollow form he'd told her he would save her. He'd almost killed Ishida, almost killed his friend, for interfering in what his Hollow felt needed to be done to keep her safe. Although from the sound of things, if she'd told the whole truth which he was fairly certain she had, he had never attacked her, he couldn't risk getting too close to her until he could control his powers. All of his powers. Because the very thought that he could hurt her and not even remember doing it filled him with more fear than he'd ever felt, even while facing Aizen.

He could tell she was almost asleep, and his father's words on phobias came back to him. "Orihime, can I turn off the light?"

Orihime tensed for an instant as memories of the dark assaulted her, but his hand was rubbing soothing circles on her back, and she could feel his heartbeat under her hand. Feel the heat of him through their clothes. Ichigo was here, Ichigo was holding her, and she knew deep down, below the mind-numbing fear of the darkness, that everything would be okay as long as he was with her. "Yes."

Ichigo reached over to switch off the bedside lamp, then cuddled her a little more tightly into his arms. "Sweet dreams." He whispered into her hair.

"They will be, thanks to you." Orihime mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare. Others can desert you, not to worry; whistle, I'll be there."_

_"Nothings Gonna Harm You," from "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC…

* * *

AN2: I'm kinda past caring if Ichigo seems a little OOC, although I am doing the best I can. I'm just not sure it's possible to keep him completely IC and still write a romance. At least not with Orihime, because she's the kind of girl that needs the sweet looks and romantic words, especially after what she's been through. Although we have seen him be sweet and caring in cannon, it just isn't his normal persona. I'm pretty much using the same thought process I did when writing Toshiro and Byakuya - I feel there is so much emotion in these characters beyond the masks/personas we generally see, and I'm just bringing that out. So to me, they are completely IC, it's just not the character most people think of. And if you think I'm justifying, so be it. I like writing my romances, damn it!


	5. Nakama

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. If I owned them it would be a half-shounen/half-shoujo series. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: First off, I'm guessing many of you know what nakama means, but I'll explain in case anyone doesn't. It's generally translated in anime as either 'friends' or 'companions.' From what I understand, the second is more accurate, as nakama implies fighting companions, sort of the 'brothers-in-arms' idea. People that you would trust with your life. It seemed a good title for this chapter, as it will be Orihime centered, and will focus on her with people besides Ichigo. After all, she's got other friends who want to help her through her problems. And I'm trying to practice writing Uryu, cause I've done very little with him in this series, and if he's going to get his own story one day I should probably start playing with him a little more. (Plus I had various people tell me they really liked his brief appearance in Chap 3, even a few who said they could see him in cannon with Orihime if cannon ends up with IchiRuki. Although I would never go that far, I do think they're kinda cute together, and could be really great friends.) Please tell me what you think.

Oh, and please read the middle note in my AN2 after the story for a very important question.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 5: Nakama

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your friends will be there."_

_-unknown_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"I wish you would talk to me about what happened, but I'm glad you're doing better." Tatsuki said quietly to Orihime as the girls changed their shoes before leaving school for the day.

"I…what do you mean?" Orihime flushed slightly, yet the guilt she felt for not sharing things with her best friend had begun to go away. Tatsuki really was better off not knowing, and telling her wouldn't do Orihime any good either.

"When you first came back after your _vacation_, you looked worse than when you left." Tatsuki said bluntly. "But this past week you've almost been back to your old self."

"I…" The guilt came back, and Orihime said quietly, "I've had someone to talk to, Tatsuki-chan. I'll be okay."

"How is Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked cheekily, feeling a slight twinge of pleasure in watching her friend turn as red as her hair.

"I…we…I don't know what you mean…" Orihime babbled, glancing around to make sure no one had overheard.

"You call him Ichigo." Tatsuki said simply. "And he calls you Orihime. That started six days ago, which is exactly when you started looking better."

"Well, we've known each other a long time, and…"

"Orihime, stop." Tatsuki spun to face her friend. "Not talking to me is one thing, but you've always been a horrible liar. I don't know what you went through, I don't know what took the smile from your face, but I know it's him that's putting it back. He's always been able to do that for you."

Orihime smiled briefly at just the thought of Ichigo. He'd been so sweet the past week. He hadn't held her again after that first night, but he had always shown up before she went to sleep.

They talked about random things, never anything important, but just chatted for a little while until he turned out the light and she went to sleep. She'd never once heard the change in his breathing that meant he'd gone to sleep, so she knew he was awake, protecting her. And his presence was protecting her from the dreams.

She hadn't had a single nightmare since he started sleeping in her room, although she did feel guilty about the fact that he was doing it. He'd saved the world, for god's sake! He should at least be able to sleep comfortably in his own bed. But she was afraid that if he wasn't there the nightmares would come back.

"Yeah, that smile." Tatsuki mumbled as she shook her head at the glazed look in her friend's eyes and the huge smile on her face.

They headed outside with Orihime still daydreaming, and began to walk slowly away from school.

Orihime stopped when they hit the street, looking around for Ichigo. Tatsuki lived in the opposite direction as she did, so they normally parted ways at the school gate. She'd always walked home alone, but for the past week Ichigo had started waiting for her at the gate and walking home with her.

She'd told herself that today would be the day she took his hand as they walked. Then again, she'd told herself that the past two days as well and hadn't had the courage to do it. Rangiku's advice echoed in her head, yet there was no way she could just tell him how she felt about him. She couldn't even imagine trying to get the words out; she'd probably turn so red he'd think she was sick or something. But holding his hand, well, she thought she could at least manage to do that. And then depending on how he responded…

"Inoue-san, Arisawa-san."

The voice from behind her caused Orihime to spin around quickly, although she did manage not to scream. She still had slight issues with people coming up from behind her. "Ishida-kun?" She titled her head, wondering why Uryu and Chad were there and Ichigo was not.

"Kurosaki got a call from his father right as class ended. Something about a big accident, and his father being needed at the main hospital. He wanted Ichigo to go straight home so that he could watch his sisters tonight." Uryu said quietly, handing Orihime a folded piece of paper. "You were still changing from gym class, so he asked us to give you this."

"Thank you." Orihime said as she took the paper, opening it quickly to scan the contents.

'I might have to stay home all night with my sisters. You can come over here and stay if you want, or Ishida said he can stay with you for the night. -Ichigo'

Orihime flushed, glancing up at Ishida quickly and then looking away. Catching Tatsuki's eye made her remember she had to wait to speak about that anyway, as her friend would certainly wonder if she realized Ichigo had been spending his nights at Orihime's apartment. Orihime quickly put a smile on her face. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Tatsuki-chan, Sado-kun."

Tatsuki returned the sentiment, although her expression betrayed the fact that she wanted to know what was in the note. Chad only nodded, and the two of them turned to head home.

Orihime turned the other way and was unsurprised when Ishida fell into step beside her.

They were silent for nearly a block, and Orihime realized he was waiting for her to speak first. In an embarrassed voice, she asked softly, "Ichi… Kurosaki-kun told you that he's been…been staying with me?"

His voice was also quiet as he answered her, "He asked Sado-san and myself almost a week ago if we would be able to take over his Hollow patrols for a little while, he said he would be… he said he had something else to do at night. We didn't ask questions, but a few nights ago when I was out I was going by your apartment, and I sensed him there. I don't think Sado-san knew before today. He seemed surprised when I told Kurosaki that I could stay with you tonight if he couldn't."

Orihime flushed as he brought that up. Even though it was Ichigo, and even though they weren't doing anything other than talking and sleeping, she was still sometimes embarrassed whenever she thought about the fact that she was alone with a boy, in her apartment, all night. The idea of it being someone else…

Then her thoughts took a different turn. If Ishida knew Ichigo had been staying with her, did he think that they… Her face was now as red as her hair. After a brief silence, Orihime stuttered quietly, "We, we're not doing anything wrong. We…"

"Inoue-san, I know that." Uryu said quietly, touching her arm lightly as he gestured to one of the benches in the small courtyard beside her apartment, and they both sat down to continue talking. "I'm not going to spread rumors around the school, and I'm not trying to imply anything. I can't imagine what you went through down there. I can't imagine what it felt like to be alone for that long. I can't imagine how scared you must have been. I'm sure it helps to have somebody there. But even if you were… I know how much you love him."

Orihime's eyes widened at his last words, and at the slightly wistful tone in his voice. Even though she'd never told anyone but Tatsuki and Rangiku-san that she loved Ichigo, it seemed like everyone knew. Although with as observant as he was, if he hadn't known before he and Ichigo rescued her from Hueco Mundo, he would certainly have realized it then. "Ichi…Kurosaki-kun…"

"I know you call him Ichigo now, you don't have to correct yourself. " Uryu said gently. "It makes sense after what we all went through. In fact, if you don't mind…Orihime…"

Orihime smiled as he trailed off. It was a small smile, but a real one. The first real smile she'd shown to anyone other than Ichigo since she came back.

Ishida was trying to reach out to her, and like with Ichigo the awkwardness of it was almost sweet. Apparently all she'd needed to do to get the men in her life to express their feelings was get kidnapped and almost killed.

"Thank you, Uryu-kun." She said softly. "Both for understanding and for your offer to stay with me. But I have to be alone sometime. I have to see if I _can_ be alone. And it's not that I don't trust you to protect me… I trust you and Chad with my life… but I think maybe if it's not Ichigo it might as well be no one."

Uryu nodded and rose from the bench. "Just remember he's not the only one that's here for you. And he didn't save you alone."

Orihime flushed at the note of slightly hurt pride in his voice, and said gently, "I know that. I know how many people went to Hue… down there with him, and from what I've heard if a single one of you hadn't gone, one or more of us would be dead. I'm sorry I never thanked you. Not just for that, but for last week too. If you hadn't grabbed my hands…"

"You were just scared, you wouldn't have actually hurt her." Uryu said quietly. "And I didn't say that to get you to thank me, just to make you remember that we're all in this together. Yeah, we rescued you. But you're still hurting. It took more than just Ichigo to get you out of there, and it may take more than just him to help you deal with what happened."

"I hate it that I always have to depend on everyone else." Orihime said in a slightly frustrated tone of voice.

Uryu sighed and sat back down next to her. "That's what friends are for, Orihime. Besides, we depend on you too, you know. We'd all be dead without you."

"I just don't know how to talk about what happened." Orihime admitted in a whisper. "I've told Ichigo a few things, but I can tell how mad he gets when he thinks about it. He apologizes all the time for not protecting me better. And I told him about…"

Uryu cocked his head in confusion when she trailed off, then froze when she hesitantly reached out and touched his chest right where she'd healed him from the wound Ichigo's zanpakuto had left. "You told him…"

"He wanted to know what happened." Orihime confessed as she dropped her hand. "I mean, he already knew sort-of; he knew he would never have dropped his katana, so the only way it could have ended up in you was…"

"I don't regret standing in his way." Uryu replied calmly. "Although I will think twice about doing it again if I'm ever in the same situation."

"It scares him." Orihime whispered. "It scares him that he doesn't even remember what happened….it scares him that he could change like that…"

"I don't think it would have happened for anyone but you." Uryu said just as quietly. "You should have seen him when we found out you'd been kidnapped. Even with Soul Society questioning how your reiatsu was in his room after… He never hesitated. Never questioned. He was going to get you back no matter what."

Orihime smiled slightly. "That sounds just like him. They… after they kidnapped me, they told me I could say goodbye to one person. But I couldn't let them know I was there. They made me invisible to everyone, made it so I could walk through walls, go anywhere I wanted. They let me spend one last day on earth with the knowledge of what would happen when that day was over."

"They really knew how to mess with people's heads." Uryu commented when she trailed off.

Orihime nodded, a few tears pooling in her eyes. "I wanted to be able to say goodbye to all of you even though you wouldn't know I'd been there. I wanted to see you all one last time. But they said only one person…"

"After everything that's happened, why haven't you just told him how you feel?"

Orihime blushed at the straightforward question. "I… I think I might, soon. But I want to do it once I'm… once I'm better. I want to know how he really feels, I don't want it to be clouded with pity or concern, or…"

"He loves you." Uryu cut her off. "He may have never said it, but you have to know he does. His actions speak louder than his words."

Orihime glanced over at him, noting his hand had absently gone to his chest. To where there would have been a scar if not for her. Then again, he wouldn't have been wounded at all if not for her.

"He would have gone down there for any of his friends." Orihime replied after a moment, not knowing what else to say.

"That's true." Uryu agreed, then gave a small shrug. "But I don't think he would have come back from dying for anyone but you."

Orihime flushed, unsure of how to answer. This conversation was getting beyond strange. Although she'd considered Uryu her friend for a while now, they'd never had a discussion like this before. Before today, she would have never imagined him having a conversation like this with anyone.

Uryu rose again, and this time took a few steps away before he said over his shoulder, "If you change your mind and want me to come back later, just call me. And think about what I said."

"I will. Uryu… thank you. For everything."

The Quincy nodded once, then walked away.

Orihime sat for another minute thinking about what he'd said, Rangiku's words once again coming back into her head as well. _Just tell him._ They both made it sound so easy.

Orihime's stomach rumbled, and with a slight giggle she rose and headed up to her apartment, trying to decide what to make for dinner.

But all thoughts of dinner vanished as she stood outside her door and sensed a strange reiatsu coming from inside her apartment. She almost ran away. She could go to Ichigo's, or she could run after Uryu, or… No, she could deal with this. Whatever it was, it had a reiatsu similar to the Shinigami's, so it couldn't be bad, it…

With a deep breath, Orihime slid one hand up to touch her barrette, ready to summon her shield the instant she opened the door. Yet once she opened it, she didn't see anything at all out of place in the apartment. Despite the feeling, there was no one there.

Or so she thought until a black butterfly drifted up from her table and started flying towards her. With a giggle of relief, Orihime closed the door behind her. Although she'd never seen a Jigokucho on earth, she remembered them from Soul Society.

Orihime hesitantly held out her hand as she remembered seeing some of the Shinigami do, and the butterfly landed on her palm. A moment later Rangiku-san's voice filled the air.

"Hi, Orihime-chan. I don't think I'm going to get back down to Earth for a while, but I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everything's back to normal up here, back to how it used to be before Aizen went crazy; although after the past year it doesn't seem like all this inactivity is normal anymore. So I'm trying to entertain myself by going after that guy I was telling you about, although I haven't really had any luck yet. How's it going with you and Kurosaki?"

There was a pause, then Rangiku gigged and went on, "Knowing you, you haven't told him yet. Just remember what I told you the last time I was down there, okay? Oh, and speaking of that, I don't know if my taicho is going to keep visiting Kurosaki-chan or not, but if he does could you please keep Kurosaki from trying to kill him? Um, I don't really have anything else to say, like I said it's actually kinda boring up here now. But I want to know how you're doing and all. What's it like just having a normal life again? Oh, uh, when my message ends just talk to the Jigokucho like you would to me, and when you're done let it off your hand. It'll come back to me on its own. And don't be surprised if I send you messages from time to time; you were my favorite of all the humans I met."

Orihime smiled when her friend's voice ended, then looked at the butterfly, "Um, hi Rangiku-san. You were kinda my favorite too. It's nice to be able to talk to you. No, I…I haven't told him yet, but I'm thinking about it, I really am. It's weird having everything back to normal, like you said, uh, it doesn't feel like what used to be my life is normal anymore. It's nice to not have to constantly worry about one of my friends getting hurt or killed though. I…I still have nightmares sometimes, but they're starting to go away. And yeah, uh, I guess that's about it. I'll look forward to hearing from you."

Orihime tilted her hand, and the butterfly flew towards the corner of her room, where it vanished into a small Senkaimon that appeared and vanished in an instant.

Orihime let out a small giggle as she headed into the kitchen to make dinner. "Butterflies that can talk and vanish into thin air. And she asks what it's like to have a normal life."

TBC….

* * *

AN2: Sorry for the lack of Ichigo in this chapter, but I really wanted to show Orihime's other friends as well. Plus I'm trying to work on the timeline of the story, and it's hard to have them together without advancing their romance, but I don't want that romance to happen in just a few days. And I do kinda have a soft-spot for Uryu, as long as I can bring him out of his shell a bit. Opinions on their interaction would be very welcome.

**Oh, and I have a question for everyone. I set this story as rated M without even thinking about it, assuming it would have lemon content like most of my stories do. But then I remembered the backlash when I even hinted at lemon content maybe happening in No Warm Memories, because of the age thing. And although Orihime and Ichigo are older than Karin, they are still only 15/16, and as both are virgins I'm not sure they would exactly jump into that kind of relationship right away. So basically, what I'm asking is if my lovely readers want a lemon in this story or not. I'll write it if people want it, although I may jump anywhere from a few months to a year into the future to make it more believable. Please let me know what you think about this. You can PM me or put in it your review.**

Oh, and I'm not really sure if Jigokucho can exist in the real world or not, but for the sake of making my life easier I'm just saying they can. No one called foul when I mentioned them earlier, when Renji told Ichigo that Seireitei was going to use them to keep in touch with him, so I'm using them.


	6. Hearts

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. If I owned them it would be a half-shounen/half-shoujo series. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter. (Except I do actually own the second quote in this chapter, lol, as it's from a different one of my stories.)

Author's Notes: First off, thanks as always to my lovely beta, Kaze-chan. Ah, the above comment about making Bleach a half-shoujo series has a lovely image of Ichigo surrounded by bishi sparkle stuck in my head. And his bankai coat is totally made for a bishi breeze… And I totally blame these thoughts on you, Uncle Yo. _(For those who don't know, Uncle Yo is an otaku stand-up comedian. He does this lovely bit on shoujo vs. shounen, and explains some differences. One of his comments is that Naruto is shounen, but Naruto fanfic is shoujo. I think that's true of Bleach as well, at least the way I write it. Which explains why IC is hard - shounen characters in a shoujo story, lol.) _Anyways, uh, yeah. Although I greatly enjoyed writing the previous chapter, it's time to get back to some IchiHime goodness. Here comes the moment everyone has been waiting for… (but first, a little moment at the start for those of you who were upset that I didn't show one particular scene.)

_This chapter is dedicated to puma1sunfire. Your reviews totally make my day._

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 6: Hearts

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"I'm not afraid. Everyone came here to rescue me. My heart is already with them." _

_Inoue Orihime in Bleach (not sure which ep/chap, sorry)_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Ichigo awoke to sunlight hitting his face, and wondered for an instant why he hadn't closed his drapes. Sleep fled and his memories of the night before returned the instant his eyes opened, and he realized he was still at Orihime's apartment, still in her bed with his arms around her. She had turned away from him onto her side at some point during the night, and he had apparently moved with her, for he was spooned against her back with an arm around her waist. It really wasn't a bad way to wake up at all.

_Only a dumbass like you would spend the night with a girl you like and not try anything._

Ichigo ignored the voice in his head as he inhaled the strawberry scent of her hair, cuddling a little closer to her.

He really had no desire whatsoever to move. Yet he knew it would be awkward when she woke up, if for no other reason than neither of them had ever slept in the same bed as another person before. Add to that how they felt about each other, and…

Ichigo jumped as a tapping sound suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Wait, that wasn't right, he…

Ichigo jolted awake as he heard another tap, this one louder. He looked around quickly, surprised to find that it was dark and he was alone in his own bed. But he had just been… No, that had been almost a week ago. He hadn't had the courage to hold her like that again, mostly because he had been right about the awkwardness when she awoke. It would have been so natural to just lean in a little and kiss her, but…

There was a tapping sound again, and Ichigo remembered that he'd been woken by the same sound and got up, looking around his room. He moved quickly to the window and opened it just in time to have a small stone hit him square in the chest.

A muffled squeal from down below made him look down to find Orihime standing under his window, the rest of the pebbles she had obviously gathered to wake him falling from her hand to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I…" She spoke quietly, although the night was still enough that he could hear her easily.

He took in the redness under her eyes, and said softly, "Did you have another nightmare?"

Looking miserable, Orihime nodded. "I…I didn't want to call, I didn't want to wake your sisters, but… but you said I could come over if…"

She looked so sad, and his only thought was to comfort her. Ichigo actually had one foot up on the windowsill before he remembered that he was in his body, and although he could easily make the jump down, getting both of them up would be more problematic. "Go to the front door, I'll be right down."

Orihime nodded and moved that way.

Ichigo grabbed a t-shirt from his chair, pulling it on as he hurried down the stairs and opened the door to find her standing on the front step, her arms wrapped around herself.

He reached out to take her arm and draw her into the house, but rather than moving past him she took two steps forward until she was right in front of him, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest, crying softly. Shutting the door, Ichigo just wrapped his arms around her and let her cry for a moment. "It's okay. I'm here."

"I'm sorry, I just… I was asleep for almost four hours I think, and it was okay, I even remember having a few nice dreams. But then…"

Orihime started crying again and felt her knees give way. She expected him to slide down to the floor with her as he had done the night before when she started crying, and her tears stopped abruptly in shock when instead he bent down to slide one arm under her knees and picked her up, cradling her gently against his chest.

Ichigo sighed as her arms wrapped around his neck and she cuddled into him, her head on his shoulder. She had stopped crying, although she was still sniffling slightly. Without thinking about it, Ichigo turned around and carried her up the stairs, kicking the door to his bedroom closed softly as he passed through it. He crossed the room and sat on his bed with her still in his arms. He felt her tense slightly, and then she was crying again.

"I'm…just remembering the last time I was here." She managed to mumble.

"I didn't think of that." Ichigo admitted softly, stroking her hair gently as she turned and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "We can go downstairs, or…"

"No, I like being here." Orihime whispered. "It smells like you… I mean…"

Ichigo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, although his voice was serious as he answered her, "Will you tell me about your nightmare? I know I haven't asked you about anything this past week, but you really should talk about it. It… it helps."

Orihime raised her head even as he turned to look at her, which put their faces only a few centimeters from each other. They stayed that way for an extended second, then they both blushed and Orihime slid off of his lap to sit on the bed beside him.

Ichigo watched her for a moment, knowing she was deciding if she was going to talk about it at all, and if so what she was going to tell him. She slid back unto the bed more, crossing her legs and reaching out her hand towards him.

Orihime gathered her thoughts as he took her hand, slid one leg up onto the bed, and turned to face her. "Do you remember before Ulquiorra died? How he asked me if I was scared?"

Ichigo nodded. "It had the sound of something he had asked you before. And the way he reached out to you and said something about it being in his hand… I wondered what he was talking about."

"Right before you showed up, he'd told me how all of you were going to be defeated and I was going to die all alone down there. He asked me if I was scared." Orihime whispered. "I told him no. I told him that I wasn't scared because all of you were there. All of you had come for me, and my heart was already with you. I wasn't alone."

"You'll never be alone." Ichigo whispered back when she paused.

"He asked me where my heart was. No, it was more asking _what_ a heart was. He said that if he couldn't see something, it couldn't exist. He…he touched my chest, my heart, and asked if he would see my heart if he tore my chest open. He reached for my head, his fingers spread out, and asked if he would see it if he crushed my skull. He was so calm about it, so expressionless. It didn't matter to him if he killed me or not. Not in the slightest." Orihime's voice was quiet, and although a few tears pooled in her eyes none of them fell. "It was right when he was reaching for me again, as if he was actually going to do one of those things, that you showed up. Except in my nightmare, when you didn't. In my nightmare, you were just a few seconds later, and he… he killed me. And then he killed you, because you got so angry that you stopped thinking, and…"

"That's what he meant in the end? When he said it was in his hand, he meant your heart?" Ichigo realized he'd been absently running his thumb over the back of her hand as he held it, but didn't really want to stop.

"Not literally." Orihime replied. "I think he was trying to say that he understood what I meant, that just because he couldn't see a heart didn't mean it wasn't there. You commented yourself that he seemed more human than when you'd faced him before; I think he was starting to understand some of what I had said to him. And then when you… when you changed because I called out to you… there was no way for him to explain that. Nothing like that had ever happened, there was no way it could happen, and yet…"

"I told you I would always come for you. You were waiting for me…"

Orihime giggled for no reason he could understand, and Ichigo cocked his head curiously.

"Sorry, it's just…the first part is a movie quote, and the second part is close as well. You were even dead and all."

Ichigo smiled as well as he caught the reference. "Death cannot stop…"

Orihime's eyes widened as he trailed off short of finishing the quote. She was surprised he had even recognized it, yet alone begun to say…

Ichigo blushed for a moment before dropping his head, and when he looked back up at her his face was serious again. "What are your other nightmares about?"

"Ichigo… It's so hard to talk about them. I don't want to remember them, and…"

"But you can't keep them bottled up; that'll make it worse. Share them with me and let me help you. I… I'm so used to being able to protect everyone, to being able to help everyone. I can't protect you from your nightmares, but maybe I can help… if you'll just tell me…" Ichigo knew his voice was close to begging, but he couldn't stop the words once they started.

Orihime's eyes widened in shock as a single tear slid down his cheek, and without thought she reached out and wiped her fingers over his cheek, wiping away the tear. He caught her hand as she started to pull back, and they sat that way for an instant, looking into each other's eyes with their hands clasped between them.

"They're all variations of the same thing." Orihime replied finally. "Either you don't save me in time, or you die trying to save me. There are so many times either one of those could have happened. I could tell you each one, but it would be pointless really. Imagine any time either one of us could have died, and those are my nightmares. Or sometimes it's Chad dead, or Uryu. Once it was Rukia-san. Sometimes it's the other Shinigami that came with you, even though I barely know most of them. One time they killed all of you, but didn't kill me. They just left me alone down there… in the dark… forever."

"You're not alone, and you never will be." Ichigo said firmly, debating with himself for a moment before he slid closer to her and pulled her unresisting form into his arms, resting her head over his heart. Her arms came around his waist, and he felt her hands clutch his shirt. "What was it you told Ulquiorra? That your heart was with us, so you weren't alone. I remember him telling me that I was a fool for fighting him, and that I couldn't win. He said it was my heart that made me do it; he said it was my heart that would get me killed. But he was wrong. I won because of my heart."

"Ichigo…" Orihime started to stir, wanting to see his face, but his hand slid up her back to stroke her hair, keeping her ear to his chest where she could hear the comforting thump-thump of the heart he was talking about.

"I won because I could feel your heart with me, and because mine was with you."

Orihime's heart melted at the tenderness of his words, and her hands unclenched from his shirt to wrap around him more fully as she cuddled as close to him as she could get. "I told Ulquiorra that, and I believed it, but it's so hard now. If I really believe that, then why am I afraid to be alone? If your heart is with me, then it shouldn't matter if you're in the room or not."

"I'm sure in time it won't matter." Ichigo said quietly as he continued to stroke her hair, his other hand warmly resting on the small of her back. "But you have to give yourself that time to heal. And in the meantime, well, I can hardly say I mind spending time alone with you."

This time when Orihime tried to pull back he let her, although he kept his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know how to do this… I don't know how to say… Orihime, you… you're special to me. And I'm sorry I suck with words, but…"

Orihime surprised both of them by taking her hand from his waist and placing her fingers lightly over his lips. "I don't need words. I mean, they're nice, but… but your actions speak for themselves. Ichigo, I…"

Ichigo slid his hand up her shoulder as she trailed off with a blush, letting his fingers rest on the side of her neck as his thumb skimmed over her cheek lightly. "Will you let me hold you again tonight?"

Orihime could only nod, her eyes locked with his. There was no pity in them, instead there was a… a heat she didn't know how to describe. It was a look she had never seen in his eyes before when he looked at her, although it was similar in some ways to how she had seen him look when he was fighting. And it gave her a new appreciation for how anyone could face him without terror when the intensity in his brown eyes sent a shiver running down her body. Or that could have been from his fingers continuing to caress the side of her neck and cheek.

"Will you let me kiss you?" His voice was barely a whisper, and asking that one question took more courage than anything he had ever done even though he was fairly certain what her answer would be.

Orihime blushed at the slight tremor in his voice; it was so cute that he thought he had to ask. And it was so completely like him that she smiled even as she whispered, "I've wanted you to for so long."

His eyes seemed to get even brighter and his hand slid from her cheek to cup the back of her neck as he slowly leaned in towards her, his heart jumping as he heard her breath hitch in anticipation even as her eyes slid shut.

Ichigo touched his lips to hers lightly, amazed at how soft they were. And the slight tremble that ran through her as his arm slid around her back was both the most exciting and most humbling experience of his life.

Ichigo let his eyes slid closed as he tilted his head a little, deepening the kiss degree by shuddering degree. He felt her arms slid around his shoulders, one hand trailing hesitantly into his hair, and his arms tightened in response as a burst of fire went through his veins.

Orihime was in heaven. Ichigo's arms were around her, and his reiatsu had flared to the point that she could swear she felt actual heat rolling off of him. His lips were warm on hers, and despite the restrained power of his embrace, the kiss was incredibly gentle. He was holding her like she was something precious, like at the moment nothing in the world existed except for her.

Whether the kiss lasted a minute or an hour, Ichigo couldn't say, but when he finally had to pull back for air he kept his eyes closed, resting his forehead on hers for a moment.

Orihime tried to catch her breath even as she let her eyes slid open, and she slid her hand out of his hair to run her fingers lightly over his cheek. His eyes snapped open, and the gaze he caught her with was even more intense than it had been before they kissed. He caught her hand in his own as she pulled it back from his cheek and kissed her palm lightly.

Ichigo released her enough to stand, then took her hands again to draw her to her feet. Unable to help himself, Ichigo leaned down and kissed her again, although he kept it short and light this time. Then, with only the slightest blush, he slid into his bed, holding up one side of the covers.

Orihime felt the heat rise to her cheeks, but she slid boldly into the bed beside him, curling up against his chest as if she had slept there all her life. His arms came around her, one hand ghosting up and down her back while the other stroked through her hair for a moment before cupping her chin lightly and tilting her head up to kiss her briefly. Remembering the first time he had held her like this, he whispered quietly, "Sweet dreams, Orihime."

Orihime cuddled closer into his chest, whispering sweetly, "After tonight, I'm pretty sure they will be." And she tilted her head up for one more kiss before she drifted gently off to sleep.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"I wish I'd had the nerve to kiss you the night I said goodbye. But I couldn't. It wasn't even that I knew you didn't feel about me the way I did about you. It's that I keep hoping that one day you will. I don't want to remember the first time I kiss you with sadness. With tears running down my face when you don't even know I'm there. I want the first time we kiss to be because you wanted to kiss me."_

_Inoue Orihime in "One Step Behind Him" (one of my other After the Winter War stories)_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC….

* * *

AN2: ::puts in earplugs in anticipation of fangirl squeeeeees::

Oh, and the readers have spoken: there will be a lemon in this story.

::makes sure earplugs are as tight as possible:::


	7. Families

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. If I owned them it would be a half-shounen/half-shoujo series. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for your awesome reviews; I think I responded to everyone personally, but I apologize if I missed you. Based on the number of chapters, this is totally my most reviewed story, which makes me so very happy. Thanks also to those of you who are finding my other After the Winter War stories and reviewing those as well, I'm glad you're enjoying my world. I tried to interject a little more humor into this part, as many of you have commented that you love the way I write comedy when I do omake or the other brief scenes when I've been able to do it. Unfortunately it just doesn't fit in with the stories I tell very often.

Oh, and for once I'm not 100% in love with the particular quotes I've chosen for this chapter, but I can't find better ones, and I really wanted to get to use something by Nagayan, as he is my favorite Japanese singer/songwriter.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 7: Families

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"For now, when we see each other, let's keep our greetings normal, and remember that we can't kiss like it's expected. It's not illicit, it's just that this is precious: feeling the temperature of a kiss. So to feel the temperature between us, we bring our faces closer together." " _

_from "KISS no Ondo" (Temperature of a Kiss) by Nagayama Takashi_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Orihime woke slowly; happy dreams were still swirling through her mind. She kept her eyes closed as she remembered Ichigo kissing her, and holding her, and… Why were there arms around her? Why could she feel Ichigo's warm reiatsu surrounding her? She'd gone to sleep last night at home, and he'd had to stay at his house with his sisters, and…

Orihime felt a moment of giddiness as she let her eyes slide open and realized it hadn't been a dream after all. Memories of fleeing her apartment to go to his house came flooding back, yet with his arms around her the nightmares that had terrified her no longer scared her at all. He had been right; somehow telling him about them _had _helped.

She lay on her side, relishing the feeling of him spooned behind her, his arm around her waist. She slid one of her hands up from where they had been curled under her cheek to rest her hand on his own, carefully linking their fingers. She froze when he mumbled something and shifted in his sleep, but he only shifted closer to her, his entire body pressing against her back.

Orihime felt a blush stain her cheeks as something especially hard pressed into her lower back, and she realized that…

Orihime squealed as she heard the door crash open.

"Ichigo, wake up you lazy…"

Ichigo awoke instantly at the standard greeting, instinctively spinning towards the voice and raising his arms to block his father's expected attack. It took him a second to realize that the attack hadn't come, and that his father was standing in the doorway with wide eyes. His thoughts raced as he almost _heard_ Isshin's jaw hit the floor, and then his thoughts came grinding to a halt as he felt the bed shift behind him and felt the warm glow of Orihime's reiatsu.

"Ah, shit." He mumbled softly under his breath. He had planned to set an alarm to wake him before his father would come in so that he could take Orihime home without anyone finding out she had been there, but had completely forgotten in the rush of feelings that had come from their first kiss.

His cheeks heated as he remembered that kiss, and he saw his father's eyes narrow. "Downstairs, now!"

Ichigo rose to his feet instantly, but turned his back on his father for a moment to regard Orihime with gentle eyes. "It's okay, just wait here and I'll be back up in a little bit to walk you to your apartment to change for school."

Her face beet red, it was all Orihime could do to nod in mortification. She knew his father was, or had been, a Shinigami. That meant he could sense when his son was around, so he likely knew Ichigo had been out all night for the past week. He had probably assumed he was hunting Hollows or something, but now he would think that they had been…

Even though they hadn't done anything wrong, shame flooded through Orihime. She had only met his father a few times, yet she had hoped that now that her and Ichigo were getting closer… But she could only imagine what he must think of her now.

A squeak from the door made her look up, only to meet the wide-eyed stares of two young girls.

"Orihime-chan?" Yuzu whispered. Although she knew the girl was her brother's friend, she barely saw them together. She actually thought of her more as Tatsuki-chan's friend and remembered some of the outings the four girls had gone on together.

Orihime stared at both girls, trying to think of something to say. Then the voice of Ayame, one of her six flowers, startled her.

_They're too young to jump to _that_ conclusion, they're just confused. Take a deep breath. You can just explain about the nightmares…_

Orihime flushed at the thought of even more people knowing she was having trouble dealing with things and missed hearing Karin's sharp intake of breath. She was therefore surprised when the tomboy turned and spoke to her sister.

"Yuzu, why don't you go down and start breakfast? I'm pretty sure I heard goat-head and Ichi-nii go into the clinic. They probably didn't want to be overheard."

Yuzu cocked her head in curiosity for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Of course, everyone will have to eat no matter what else happens, and…" Her voice trailed off as she moved down the hallway.

Karin took a few steps into the room and said quietly, "They're not lying to me are they? The War really is over?"

Having been warned by Ichigo not to tell Karin their father was a Shinigami, even though she knew about the other stuff, Orihime took a second to wonder who Karin meant by 'they.' Then she remembered her talk with Karin about Toshiro-kun and hurried to reassure the girl. "Yes, it's over, Karin-chan. Seire…The Shinigami won. Ichigo won."

"Then why are you having nightmares?" Karin whispered.

Orihime blinked at her, confused. She thought of what Ayame had said to her, but she hadn't said it out loud, and no one but Ichigo and Uryu knew she was having nightmares.

"I'm sorry." Karin whispered while Orihime was still trying to figure out how she knew. "I…I can do more than see ghosts and Shinigami now. Urahara-san has been helping me, and…sometimes I can hear other people's souls. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, Karin-chan." Orihime said quietly. Considering that she could reject reality itself, the ability to hear people's souls didn't seem that odd. "Something happened to me, during all the fighting over the past months, that really scared me. And I have nightmares about it. But… but when your brother is with me, the nightmares go away."

"So you're just here cause of that." Karin stated, but then couldn't resist asking softly, "Did you tell him how you feel yet?"

"Um…sort-of." Orihime said softly, blushing as she untangled herself from the covers to sit on the side of the bed. "I…I didn't say it exactly, but he… he held me, and…"

Karin laughed, cutting the older girl off right as she was about to reveal that they'd kissed. "Ichi-nii finally stopped being an idiot."

Orihime blinked. "You… you don't mind? Because he's your big brother and I…"

"I think when you save the world you deserve a reward." Karin said cheekily.

Orihime giggled in surprise. "I'm a reward?"

Karin reflected on the advice the older girl had given her weeks ago, and on how much happier Ichigo had seemed during the past week. She remembered Orihime and Tatsuki taking her and Yuzu to the park or the zoo or wherever when they were younger, and how the two older girls had always acted like a strange combination of mom/older sister.

Karin answered the question quietly, "I kinda think so, Orihime-neechan."

Orihime stuttered for a moment, then followed her instincts and rose to hug the younger girl. "Thank you, Karin-chan."

"You make him happy." Karin mumbled, then coughed and turned her head as she forcibly removed herself from the hug. "I'm… I'm gonna go change before breakfast."

Orihime watched with mild amusement as the girl fled the room. Karin liked expressing emotion about as much as Ichigo did, so that moment had meant a lot to her. Orihime sighed, trying to straighten out the wrinkles sleeping in them had done to her clothes, then ran her fingers through her hair to settle it as best she could. Taking a few deep breaths, she headed down to the kitchen.

Two steps out of the room, she heard a crash, followed by a long wail, and broke into a run.

_OoOo Previously, downstairs oOoO_

Ichigo followed his father's back all the way down the stairs, through the house, and into the clinic. He closed the door behind him without being asked. He braced himself for the onslaught as his father spun on his heel to face him, arms crossed over his chest.

"Is that the person you're trying to help?"

"No, Dad, we're not…" Ichigo trailed off in shock as the first question asked was not at all what he had expected. "Oi… yeah, yeah Orihime's the person I'm trying to help."

Isshin smirked. "I thought I recognized her reiatsu. I can feel it around you when you come home now."

Ichigo choked on the breath he'd been drawing as his father finished that sentence.

"She your girlfriend, too?" Isshin asked casually as he crossed to one of the cabinets lining the clinic walls and opened it.

"No." Ichigo said at once, his traitorous mind making him remember kissing her at exactly that moment. "Well, maybe. I mean…"

Isshin smirked as he tossed a box at his son, who caught it reflexively and glanced down at it. Then he dropped it as if someone had tossed him a poisonous snake.

"DAD!"

"It's always good to be safe, and…" Isshin's smirk was fully in place.

"Dad, no." Ichigo hissed, his face coloring. "We're not… I mean, we just barely even got together, and…"

"I'm not telling you to not do, or to do, anything. You may only be a kid to this world, but I'd say what you went through makes you enough of a man to make your own decisions." Although Isshin's face continued to grin like a slightly-crazy manga character, his eyes and his voice were serious. He crossed back to Ichigo, took the box of condoms, and returned them to his cabinet.

Ichigo watched Isshin silently cross the room until he stood at the door connecting the clinic to the house.

"Do you love her?"

Ichigo blinked as his father asked the question without even turning around. "I…I don't know." He answered honestly. "But I like spending time with her, and…"

Isshin let out a cackle. "That's one of the first signs." Opening the door and crossing into the house, his father turned back over his shoulder to call, "And the condoms are there when you need them."

Ichigo charged for the door, only to have his father slam it in his face. As he spent two seconds reopening it, he heard his father's footsteps pounding into the kitchen. "Misaki…. Our firstborn has a girlfriend!" His wailing words could be heard through the entire house.

Ichigo slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand and seriously considered running out the side door.

_OoOo An hour later oOoO_

"I just can't say how sorry I am for…"

"Ichigo-kun, enough." Orihime said gently, slowing her walk slightly since they were only a few blocks from school. "You've apologized for your family at least a dozen times, but I didn't mind. It… it was kinda nice to have people to talk to in the morning."

Ichigo thought of the noisy meal, with Yuzu frantically making sure all the food was perfect, and Karin and Isshin arguing over one thing or another until Karin had rammed her elbow into their father's side. Isshin had been oddly nice to Orihime, although he had made enough wailing comments to Misaki's portrait about how beautiful a girl his son had brought home, and other things even less appropriate, that both teens had spent most of the meal flushed bright red and trying to not choke on their food. He thought of the sneak attack his old man had tried to pull as they all left for school, and how he had planted his father's face into the ground under his foot less than an inch from where Orihime stood.

Then he thought of her small apartment, and how until she stepped out her door she had no one to talk to. No one to wish her a good morning. Maybe that was why she always perked up when the girls at school greeted her.

"I didn't know you knew my sisters so well." Ichigo changed the subject.

"Well, since Tatsuki-chan practically grew up with you, she'd take them out to play sometimes. Once I got to be friends with her, I started going with them. I didn't even know they were your sisters at first." Orihime said quietly.

"Karin called you neechan as we were leaving." Ichigo replied, glad there was no one nearby to overhear them.

Orihime blushed. "She's…Karin-chan is very perceptive. I… I told her it was okay. Is it? I mean…"

"It's fine." Ichigo said shortly, then let out a sigh. Both his father's asking him and Karin's new familiarity with her had driven home the fact that he hadn't actually asked her if… "Look, uh, Orihime. Do, uh, do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Orihime stopped walking at his slightly mumbled question, feeling as if her heart had stopped for a second as well. Yet even as he noticed and slowed to turn she was walking again, catching up to him and walking at his side. It wasn't exactly the confession she'd been hoping for, but he _had_ said she was special to him the night before. And it wasn't exactly like he was anything near a poet. "Yes." She said softly.

Ichigo was about to say something more about that, but noticed they were only a block from the school and asked hurriedly, "Oi, Orihime, do you want to tell people at school about us?"

Orihime hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly. "Not really. I… I kinda just want it to be between us, at least for a little while. It's more special that way."

Ichigo sighed with relief, glad she wanted to keep it a secret as well. Although in his case it had nothing to do with it being special. It had to do with not wanting to take shit from the guys about it.

Because while he had been sitting in her living room waiting for her to change for school, his inner Hollow had been taunting him. He knew how close his temper was to the surface where she was concerned, and no matter what one of his friends said, it wasn't worth him putting his zanpakuto through their chest. But his inner Hollow might not agree.

"I agree." He said quietly, glancing up and down the sidewalk. They were dangerously close to being late for school, but the upside of that meant there were no other students on the sidewalk anywhere near them.

Orihime glanced up at him reflexively as he took her hand, and she was too shocked to close her eyes as he leaned down and touched his lips to hers, very briefly but warmly, before pulling back and starting to walk again.

Orihime took a second to stare at his back, her cheeks heating slightly, then she took a few running steps to catch up with him. A small smile gracing her lips, Orihime brushed her fingers lightly over his hand before putting a friendly distance between them as they turned through the gate and onto the school grounds.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"Where are these feelings headed towards, I wonder? I want to try living by my instincts, unless reasoning just gets in the way, and my determination starts to sway. These words of mine that I can't relate are being swallowed deep inside me again today."_

_from "Boku no Naka" (Inside Me) by Nagayama Takashi_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC….

AN2: "Temperature" in the translation of the title of the first quote means the warmth/coldness of an action, normally distinguished by authors by using different adjectives, such as a 'friendly kiss,' a 'sweet kiss,' a 'warm kiss' or a 'hot, passionate kiss.'

Oh, and about Ichigo's sisters knowing Orihime, I don't think it's really cannon, but it makes sense to me. We know his sisters are friends with Tatsuki, and she is Orihime's best friend and all. And since they haven't had a mother for most of their lives, I can totally see the older girls being big-sister images in their lives, especially the way Japanese culture/family works. In fact, I already used this in No Warm Memories. Sorry if anyone objects, but my fanfic = my world.

Although Karin switching to adding the -nee suffix to her name wouldn't normally be a big deal because it's actually common, in anime at least and I'm pretty sure in real life, to address older girls this way especially if you are friends, it's a big deal in this case because of when Karin chooses to do so and the fact that they've had this type of relationship for years and she's never used that suffix before. Also, Karin's 'soul power' is called Kyokon, or Mirror Soul, and she told you what it does. For anything more on this please see No Warm Memories.


	8. Chocolates

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. If I owned them it would be a half-shounen/half-shoujo series. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: First off, to the person who PM'd me asking where they knew the name Nagayama Takashi from (I accidentally deleted your PM, sorry), I'd suggest looking him up online, cause you could know him from any number of things. But since you're reading Bleach fanfic, I can take a guess as to how you know the name: he plays Hitsugaya in the Bleach musicals.

Anyway, thanks again to all my wonderful readers for their kind reviews. I should hit over 100 reviews with this chapter; I don't think I hit that with No Warm Memories or Behind This Mask till at least chapter 10 or 11. _Mina-san, domo arigato gozaimasu_; I'm so glad that you're all enjoying this story. (It could also just be because it's a more popular pairing than either of those other two are, lol.) And a special thanks to those of you who are PM-ing me with ideas of other stories I could do, or scenes you would like to see in this one. I aim to please. Speaking of, I had originally thought this story would be about 7-9 parts, I believe. Well, now that I'm closer to the end I can tell you it's going to be either 11 or 12 parts. I could end it sooner, but everyone is enjoying it so much, and I keep getting new ideas, lol.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 8: Chocolates

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" _

_Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"I know it's been almost a month and a half since the war ended, but Orihime…" Ichigo sprawled out on his bed, one hand holding the cordless phone to his ear as he spoke to his girlfriend, the other hand pushing Kon's face into the mattress to keep him from shouting things into the phone as he always tried to do when the two of them were talking.

"It's been almost three weeks since I tried being alone, Ichigo-kun." Orihime's voice came over the phone softly. "I have to do this. For me. I… I'm not saying that if I don't have nightmares I never want you to stay again, because I really like… I mean…"

Ichigo let out a slight chuckle as her voice trailed off in embarrassment. They had been sleeping together every night since their first kiss, although they still hadn't done anything other than kissing and holding each other.

This was a fact which his inner Hollow teased him about mercilessly. It wasn't really that he didn't want to do more, it was actually really hard to resist, but their circumstances were just so unique. They'd only officially _been _a couple for three weeks, and aside from Ichigo's family no one knew yet that they _were_ a couple.

If they were normal high-school students, they certainly wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed after just three weeks, let alone considering doing anything else. Just because her nightmares and his over protectiveness forced them together in such an intimate way didn't mean that…

"Ichigo?" Orihime questioned when he did nothing but chuckle.

"Sorry." Ichigo said immediately, realizing he had been letting his thoughts run away from him. "I… I know what you mean. It's nice holding you, and I like that we can talk about anything and know that no one will overhear us or interrupt us."

It was Orihime's turn to be silent this time, her heart melting a little at the sweetness of his words. Although he still projected the same rough and slightly bad-ass persona he had always had when they were at school, she rarely saw that side of him when they were alone anymore. He hadn't said he loved her yet or anything close to that, but he had opened up to her in so many little ways.

Thinking of him holding her and kissing her almost made her want to give in and let him stay again, but although she knew he wasn't staying with her only because of the nightmares, she still wanted to get rid of them. She wanted Ichigo's arms around her for no other reason than that he wanted to hold her, not that he had to keep her from having nightmares. And she also had something else she had to do tonight.

Although she wasn't lying when she said she needed to be alone to see if she could do it, she did have a secondary reason that was actually more important.

"Orihime?"

"Sorry." It was now her turn to apologize for getting lost in thought. "I… I promise I'll call you if I have a nightmare. But I really have to see if I can do this. I… I want to be alone tonight, okay?"

Ichigo detected an odd note in her voice, almost as if she had other plans she didn't want him to know about, but knew that that was ridiculous. If she had plans with any of her friends, she would have just told him.

"Okay." He sighed finally. "I understand why you want to do this. Why you have to. Look, uh, I'll keep the phone in my room. You won't wake anyone else if you call."

"Thanks." She said quietly. "I, um, I need to get going. Homework and such."

"Right. I'll meet you in front of your building in the morning."

"No, Ichigo." Orihime said quickly, and he could swear there was a note of almost panic in her voice before it quickly smoothed out. "Ahh, I mean, I'm on duty in the classroom tomorrow, so I have to go in early, and I was thinking of maybe going even earlier and joining Tatsuki-chan in her karate practice, cause I haven't done that with her in a really long time, and…"

Ichigo's chuckle cut off her babbling, and he replied, "Orihime, relax. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay. Although I will miss getting to kiss you good morning." He let confidence show in his voice, letting her know that while he was available if she needed to call him, he didn't think she would need to. He believed she was strong enough to make it through the night alone. He only prayed he was correct, because he remembered how embarrassed and miserable she had been three weeks ago when she had come to his house in the dead of night because of a nightmare.

"I… I'll miss it too. I'll see you tomorrow." She said quietly. "Bye bye."

"Goodnight." He said softly as he hung up the phone, setting it on his nightstand before releasing Kon from the death grip he had on him.

"Ichigooooo." Kon wailed as he took deep breaths, "Why do you always do that when you talk to her? I just want to say…"

Ichigo's head turned to follow the plushie as he suddenly let out a wail and launched himself towards the window. "Nee-san!"

Rukia casually caught Kon as he leaped at her and tossed him across the room before she finished climbing into the room through the open window.

"How's it going, Ichigo?" She asked casually.

Ichigo wondered how long she had been at the window and why he hadn't sensed her reiatsu. Then he realized that he still couldn't sense it, which meant she was shielding it for some reason.

Noticing his confused expression, Rukia smiled. "Seireitei wants any Shinigami who comes to Karakura Town to keep their reiatsu shielded if they can; those of you who live here attract enough Hollows as it is."

"How long were you at the window?" Ichigo said brashly.

Rukia smiled a real smile. "Long enough. You and Inoue are finally dating, huh?"

Ichigo flushed. "Uh, yeah. But we haven't told anyone yet, we…" He trailed off as he noticed she was wearing a badge on her left arm. Then he saw just what was on the badge and quickly asked, "What happened to Renji?"

"Huh?" Rukia looked confused for a moment, then noticed his eyes on the badge that declared her fukutaicho of the Rokubantai. "Oh, uh, he got promoted. We did have three taicho that needed replacing, after all."

Ichigo smirked. "Congrats to both of you. Although it does make me wonder why you're here."

"I just figured I probably wouldn't be able to come back to Earth for a while now that I'm a fukutaicho and all, so I kinda snuck out through the family gate. I wanted to see all of you again." Rukia grinned back.

"Not planning on staying in my closet again are you, pipsqueak?"

"No, I'm only here for the night, and don't call me…" Rukia's indignant huff was cut short as her Hollow tracker started beeping, and she pulled it out with a sigh even as Ichigo reached for his substitute badge and let his body fall to the bed.

"Where?" He asked, Shinigami form already poised on the windowsill.

Despite being back to full power, Rukia knew he was still much faster than her, so she hopped on his back as she answered him, and the two of them took off into the night.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Okay, it's at 46 degrees, meaning I can put it in the bowl now." Orihime mumbled to herself as she pulled the candy thermometer out of the chocolate on her stove and poured the mixture into a waiting bowl. She continued to stir it, and mumbled under her breath as she read for about the 10th time from the cookbook sitting next to the bowl.

"So once it's down to 37 degrees I spread some of it out on the counter and start spreading it out to temper it, then mix in more from the bowl, then it all goes back into the bowl and the temperature needs to be at…" Orihime let out a little squeak as her doorbell rang, and she clutched the bowl of cooling chocolate to her chest with one arm and continued stirring with the other as she crossed to her front door.

"Inoue, I know it's late, but…" Fully expecting to have found her friend ready for bed or at least nearly so as it was almost 11pm, Rukia was surprised to find her in jeans and a t-shirt, wearing an apron flecked with brown tied around her waist. Her hair was in a ponytail, something Rukia wasn't sure she had ever seen before.

Orihime brushed a hand over her hair nervously. She knew it looked odd to have her hair pins in while her hair was in a ponytail, but it had kept getting in her way and she refused to take the pins out unless she was sleeping. She quickly dropped her hand back to the spoon and resumed stirring the chocolate even as she backed up to allow Rukia to enter.

"Kuchiki-san, why are you here?" Orihime realized how rude that sounded even as the words left her mouth, and hurried to explain, "I mean, it's great to see you, but is there trouble? Did something…"

"No, Inoue-san, everything is fine." Rukia replied, glancing down at the bowl the other girl held. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but…."

"Ahh!" Orihime let out a little squeal as she hurried back into the kitchen and grabbed her candy thermometer, calling out for Rukia to follow her. She still had a few more minutes before she could start spreading the chocolate.

Rukia raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the kitchen and found a huge mess. Yet all the preparation work that had created the mess seemed to be complete, as all her friend was focused on was the bowl in her hands, which she was just setting on the granite counter next to the stove as she continued to stir it.

"I've seen chocolates for sale in half the shops I passed tonight." Rukia commented as she leaned back against the counter next to her friend. "Why are you staying up so late to make them from scratch? And why are so many places selling them right now anyway?"

"Those are just giri-choco, these need to be special cause they're for…" Orihime trailed off as her face turned bright red.

Rukia laughed. "I was over at Ichigo's while you were on the phone with him. Congratulations and all that. But what the heck are giri-choco?"

Orihime flushed, although she did remember to keep checking the temperature of the chocolate. She avoided the question for the moment and gathered her courage enough to ask, "So you're not upset about Ichigo and me? Cause I kinda always thought that you liked him, and…"

Rukia started laughing so hard tears almost came to her eyes, and as Orihime trailed off she managed to say, "I do like him. He's something of a combination between a best friend and a brash little brother."

Rukia stopped laughing then, and her voice turned serious. "You asked me before why I was here. I may not be able to come back to Karakura Town for a while, and I just wanted to see you all again. Even though the past year is a relatively short part of my life, it feels like I've been with you guys forever. Like I can't remember not knowing you all, Ichigo especially. But it's not romantic or anything like that. He's my friend. He's my nakama. My brother. He's… he's… he's just Ichigo, you know?"

Orihime smiled at that even as she started folding the chocolate back and forth on the counter. "I know what you mean, Kuchiki-san. Once you meet him, he's kinda impossible to forget."

Rukia chucked as Orihime's eyes took on a faraway look for a moment. "But even if I had liked him the way you mean when I first met him, that would have stopped as soon as I met you. Once we became friends, I mean. I'm glad you finally told him that you love him."

"Um, well, I haven't quite said that yet." Orihime stuttered, then glanced down at the chocolate she was working on. "Although these will kinda say it for me."

"Yeah, what's the deal with all this anyway?" Rukia spread her arms to indicate the messy kitchen. "What did you call chocolate you buy from the store? Giri-choco?"

"Well, it's only called that when it's for Valentine's Day, but…"

"What's that?" Rukia cocked her head at the unfamiliar holiday.

"You don't know about…" Orihime trailed off as she concentrated for a second on adding more chocolate to the part she was working on. "I guess you guys don't have the same holidays that we do, huh? Um, Valentine's Day is when girls give chocolates to boys. Giri-choco are the ones you buy in the store, you give them to guys in your family, or co-workers, or friends. It's almost like an obligation, hence the name. But to someone you like… well, to them you give chocolates that you made yourself. They're called honmei-choco. Although you can give those to your friends or family too if you are really close to them, I mean, some of these are gonna be for Uryu and Chad, and… "

"Honmei?" Rukia asked as Orihime babbled on.

"It's written with the 'hon' from 'true feelings' and the 'mei' from 'destiny,' but really it's more just like 'true feelings.' It's…it's someone that's really special to you." Orihime replied as she checked the temperature of both the chocolate left in the bowl and that on the counter. Both were just a few degrees away from 32, one warmer and the other one cooler, which meant that when combined they should be perfect. She mixed them carefully in the bowl, glancing up after a minute when she realized Rukia had yet to comment. Rukia had a thoughtful look on her face and was smiling slightly.

"Inou…ah…" Rukia sighed. She had said only a few minutes ago that she considered them all her friends, yet she was still so formal with any of them except Ichigo. She had too much training as a Kuchiki.

She just wanted to be a normal girl for once. So she started over, "Orihime-chan, are you going to use all of that chocolate?"

"No, not really, the book just says it's really hard to temper it right if you don't use at least…" She trailed off, both registering the slightly embarrassed look on her friend's face as well as how she had been addressed. Orihime broke into a beaming smile as she gestured to the molds spread out over the other counter. "I've got tons of molds, Rukia-chan. Who are you going to give them to?"

"Renji." Rukia mumbled as she turned to the molds, knowing her face was bright red. This was the part of being a normal girl she hadn't really thought of, although remembering how all the girls at school used to gossip about boys should have prepared her.

Orihime let out a little squeal of delight as she reached for a tray with all different size hearts. "I always thought he liked you. Are you already dating, or…"

Rukia's nod produced another squeal of delight, and the girls got to work, molding chocolates as they talked about the boys they were going to give them to.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Ichigo walked to school alone the next day, munching on the chocolates his sisters had given him at breakfast. Although he had known Valentine's Day was coming up soon as all the girls at school had been giggling about it, he hadn't actually realized it was today until his sisters had presented him with two small boxes. It did explain why they had made him and his father stay out of the kitchen the night before. Could that be why Orihime had wanted to be alone? No, she wouldn't have…

Ichigo's thoughts ground to a halt as he approached the school and saw Orihime on the field with the karate club, running though a complicated kata he knew he had once learned but could only half remember.

Although there was no break in her movement, he felt her notice him and returned the smile she gave him before he entered the school and headed to their classroom.

Groups of girls clustered nervously in the halls, talking in excited murmurs that occasionally erupted into giggles. Boys moved around the groups warily, some already either eating chocolates or holding the ones they had received proudly. Other boys, likely those who had not received chocolates and did not expect to, walked with their heads down, carefully avoiding even looking at the girls. And here and there could be found a boy and girl standing together, her speaking quietly while he held a box of honmei-choco.

Ichigo had always hated Valentine's Day. Not because he'd never received chocolates, for he had, but because he thought it was a stupid holiday. Why should you confess your feelings on a certain day? Why should you be forced to…

Ichigo let out a sigh as he entered his classroom, just wishing the day could be over already. He had told Orihime weeks ago that once she managed to be able to sleep alone without having nightmares, they would do something to celebrate. And since she hadn't called him during the night, he had to assume that that had happened.

Only he had no idea what to do. They could maybe go on a date or something, but the reason they hadn't actually done that yet was because they didn't want anyone to see them and know they were together. Maybe they should just tell people, cause that way they could actually hold hands at school, or…

"Good morning, Kurosaki."

Ichigo stopped in front of Ishida's desk. "Morning." He nodded in greeting even as he glanced down at the desk to find several boxes of chocolate on it, one of them obviously handmade. The bow in the middle of that box, rather than being a standard red bow, was for some reason a light shade of blue and had six loops, making it resemble…

Ichigo felt his inner Hollow flare up for a moment, but before he could say anything Chad stepped up beside him, an identical box dwarfed by his large hands. Both guys turned their faces to Ichigo's desk, and he followed their gazes to see a box about three times larger than theirs, the same light blue bow decorating its top.

"She really outdid herself; they're wonderful." Ishida commented quietly.

Flushing bright red, Ichigo wandered over to his desk, feeling as if the entire class was staring at him. Although over half the boys' desks were decorated with one or more box, the one on his desk was by far the largest.

Ichigo sat down, avoiding making eye-contact with anyone. There was no note on the outside of the package, not that he had any doubt who it was from, but when he opened it up there was a note on the inside.

'For Everything.' It read simply, and rather than having a name at the bottom had been signed with a small heart.

Ichigo glanced up as he felt someone step up next to his desk and glared at Keigo as he tried to read the note.

"Who're they from?" Undaunted, the boy sat down in front of Ichigo's desk and tried to take the note from him.

"None of your…" Ichigo trailed off as Orihime and Tatsuki walked into the classroom, and his eyes locked briefly with Orihime's before she flushed pink and looked away quickly.

Unfortunately, Keigo noticed and let out a whistle. "Damn, you lucky son of a…"

"Not one word. Not one word to anybody, or I'll…" Ichigo growled just as their teacher walked into the classroom.

"To your seats please, boys and girls. You can continue with all the frivolity of today at lunch, but for now it's time to study."

A chorus of sighs echoed through the room as everyone found their proper seats.

Already in her seat, Orihime risked a glance back to where Ichigo sat, and their eyes met. Although her cheeks were still pink, she gave him a sweetly shy smile.

Ichigo returned the smile as he opened the box and popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth before putting the box in his bag.

Ishida had been right.

They were wonderful.

TBC…

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AN2: Ack, so the Valentine's Day part is gonna end up being two chapters. This is the first story I've written where I've had the opportunity to do holidays, so even though I know there are lots of fics with them I just had to do it. And the chapter just ran away from me, lol. Sorry if the chocolate making and stuff is overly descriptive, but I'm kinda anal about things like that. Orihime and Rukia's conversation started running in my head and I just went along for the ride; I hadn't planned on it being that long. But it was nice to write Rukia again, especially as her and Renji's story will be next after this is finished. (I've gotta keep working on Scars too, but can't write the angst at the moment.) And I think the two girls consider each other friends, and could hang out like this. Plus I just enjoy having characters other than the main ones in my stories, even if they are romances. After all, your life does not revolve around the other person. Or at least it shouldn't.

Also, I've noticed I generally put in a translation glossary for the first few chapters of my stories, but tend to forget by later chapters. No one has ever commented on this being a problem, but if it is let me know and I'll remember to do the glossaries. I try not to use Japanese words excessively, and the ones I use are ones that anyone who watches subbed or reads enough fanfic will know. (Or they're explained in the story, as the two types of chocolate are here.) It's just that I think in terms of Seireitei and shunpo, so that's how I write, and going back and changing them to their English translations is annoying for me. Especially as some translations, like Soul Reaper and Soul Cutter, really bug me.

Oh, and before anyone tells me I have the wrong temperatures for making chocolate, remember that Japan uses Celsius.


	9. Confessions

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: So I needed more than one chapter for the Valentines Day part as the Rukia/Orihime chocolate thing went so long, but didn't have enough for a whole nother chapter, at least not without adding in a bunch of filler crap. So the first half of this chapter is still Valentines Day, then the second half will skip a month ahead and be White Day. After that there should only be two more chapters. Oh, and since it's been almost three weeks since I posted a part, as my life has been insane, I skipped sending this part to my beta in the interest of getting it out as soon as possible. So there are probably a few more mistakes than normal, lol, but I wanted to post it now! And thanks to Beruhime219 for the idea about Ichigo's sun. You'll understand once you read the chapter.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 9: Confessions

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"It made me realize that having a gentle side didn't make you less of a man. In fact, it made you a better one." _

_Patrick Swayze in "The Time of My Life"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Oi, Ichigo, are you joining us or not?" Mizuiro asked as he, Chad and Keigo looked up at their friend. They were sitting in their usual lunch spot on the roof, but rather than sitting with them Ichigo was standing at the edge of the roof, looking down at the area behind the school.

"He's probably just looking for…" Keigo trailed off as Ichigo turned and glared at him.

"Not one word, remember?" Ichigo snapped, turning his back on his friends again to look down at the group of girls gathered on the benches below him. Orihime sat down there with her friends, all of them but Michiru enjoying their lunches. The shy girl appeared, for some odd reason, to be reading out loud from a notebook. Occasional giggles and sighs drifted up to him, but Ichigo couldn't make out any of the words.

He was trying to decide if he was annoyed that Orihime hadn't asked him to sit with her for lunch today, or grateful. So far only Ishida and Chad, and unfortunately Keigo, knew that the huge box of special chocolates he had received were from Orihime. They'd decided weeks ago, when they first officially started dating, that they weren't going to tell anyone about it. And if she'd asked him to sit with her on today of all days everyone would soon figure it out.

Ichigo figured that she hadn't wanted to do that without seeing if everyone knowing was okay with him, and since he didn't want to deal with crap from people, or have her have to deal with crap from people due to his less than stellar reputation, he really did like just keeping it to themselves. So he should be grateful to her for not pushing things, not that he'd ever expected her to. It just wasn't in her nature.

Instead he'd found himself slightly annoyed when she only gave him a small smile before leaving with her friends for lunch. And he was growing more annoyed as his friends chatted about the latest episode of Don Kanonji's stupid show.

He hadn't gotten to hold her the night before, hadn't gotten to kiss her good morning, and hadn't even been able to talk to her all day. Not that he really had anything to say, but that wasn't the point.

Ichigo sighed. He'd apparently gotten so used to spending his nights with her that he was going through withdrawal. Which was just sad. But he wanted to touch her, and talk to her, and…

"Ah, screw this." Ichigo said abruptly, causing his friends to stop talking and turn to look at him. Without another word he picked up his unopened bento and headed down the stairs, calling over his shoulder, "I know you'll tell him the instant I leave, so I'm letting you know I won't kill you or anything."

Ichigo descended the stairs listening to Keigo's shout of relief.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"So, which one was your favorite, Mahana-chan?" Michiru asked as she looked up from her notebook.

"Um…I think the one from Fate Stay Night." Mahana said quietly, thinking over all the quotes she'd just heard. "The one about always remembering love, no matter how much time passes."

"Someday, my memories of her will fade. Her voice, her actions, I might forget them as well. But even then, I will always remember that I loved her." Michiru read the quote. "That is a really nice one. What about you, Tatsuki-chan?"

Tatsuki shook her head. "What gave you the idea to do this, anyway?"

Michiru shrugged. "One of my friends emailed me the list last night, and I thought it would be kinda cool with Valentine's Day being today and all. In fact, that's probably why they made the list."

"Yeah, but if I remember right that one from Fate Stay Night wasn't actually a confession of love to someone, but…"

"Half the quotes aren't confessions, just romantic quotes." Chizuru pointed out. "I really liked the one from Naruto though, I remember the first time I read it…"

"I have family, and I have friends, but if you're gone, to me...it'll be the same as being alone." Orihime quoted quietly. That had been her favorite quote on the list as well, because she knew exactly how Sakura had felt when she'd said it. It was how she would feel if she didn't have…

"Ichigo." Tatsuki suddenly said, surprise evident on her face.

Orihime's head whipped around to see the boy she loved standing behind her, the box of chocolates she had given him held prominently in his hands along with his bento.

Ichigo ignored all the other girls, several of whom had started giggling. He blushed only slightly as he said quietly, "Orihime, uh, I was wondering if you would like to share these with me."

Orihime blushed until her face almost matched her hair as she realized every single one of her friends was either staring at her or giggling, yet she rose and turned to face him. "I would love that, Ichigo." She said quietly.

Ichigo shifted his lunch and the chocolates to one hand and took one of her hands in his, blushing slightly more than he had been. Orihime smiled, her friends completely forgotten for the moment, and the two of them walked away hand in hand.

Chizuru's wail could probably be heard by everyone in a one block radius. "No, not my Hime-chan!"

"You don't mind, do you?" Ichigo said quietly as they settled under a tree a ways away from where the girls had been sitting. "I probably should have asked you, but…"

"I don't mind." Orihime said with a smile. "I was just surprised. I didn't think you wanted to tell people we were dating." The smile grew brighter, as it always did when she thought of the fact that they were dating.

"I didn't. I mean, we're gonna get crap from our friends and stuff, but…" Ichigo trailed off. "I missed talking to you last night. I missed getting to kiss you this morning. And I realized that it's kinda stupid not to tell people. It's no one's business, but…"

"But it's nice to not have to hide it." Orihime said softly as he trailed off again, ignoring the stares and whispers of a group of girls as they walked by. "I missed you too."

"So, no nightmares?" Ichigo asked gently after they'd spent a few minutes eating.

"One, but… but it wasn't that bad." Orihime replied honestly. "I think talking about them with you has helped. I think it was like you said, it just took time for me to stop being afraid. I didn't have to turn on the light, and I managed to go back to sleep after only a little while."

Ichigo smiled, wishing he could just lean in and kiss her. He'd been thinking of kissing her since they sat down together, but could feel the glances of half the students on the lawn. Orihime had turned so red when he asked her to sit with him… If he kissed her here in front of everybody she'd probably just faint dead away. Glancing away from her to help control himself, he asked, "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Huh?"

"I promised we'd do something special when you could sleep without me there, remember?"

"Oh, I forgot." Orihime said quietly. "Um…we could see a movie. Or go out for dinner or something."

Ichigo smiled. "Standard first date, huh? I kinda like that idea."

_OoOoOoOoO_

_One Month Later, March 14_

_OoOoOoOoO_

"So did Orihime-neechan like her gift?" Yuzu chirped the minute Ichigo walked in the door after school.

"I'm giving it to her tonight, didn't wanna do it at school." Ichigo said even as he dodged his father's welcome home kick and shoved the old man into the wall as an afterthought.

"So you're seeing her tonight?" Isshin said as he pealed himself off of the wall and then stood casually leaning against it as if nothing had happened. "Does that mean I shouldn't wait up for my little boy?"

"Shut-up." Ichigo said shortly. "We're just going out to dinner, then maybe for a walk or something."

"Cause I've still got that box in the clinic if you decide to…."

"Shut-up!" Ichigo turned to glare at his father, ignoring his sister's curious glance. "You must be the only father in the world who is actually encouraging his teenaged son to…"

Isshin grinned, then leaned in close to his son. Ichigo tensed, ready for the attack, and was surprised when his father only laid a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a voice too low for Yuzu to hear. "I'm probably also the only father whose teenaged son has saved the world. I think you had to grow up much too fast; but you should at least be able to enjoy the perks of being an adult along with the responsibility."

Ichigo could swear that for a second the reiatsu in the house grew stronger, but he paid it no mind as he digested his father's words.

"…" Ichigo stood dumbstruck for nearly a minute after his father had strode casually out of the room.

He was brought back to reality by the sound of Karin running through the upstairs hallway and down the stairs. She came to a grinding halt when she saw him and Yuzu standing by the door, then began to babble, "Oh, I didn't know you were home yet, Ichi-nii. I was just going out to meet a… meet a friend, and then we were… uh… going to meet some other friends and play soccer, so I may be home a little late, and…"

"No later than 7pm, Karin-chan. You know that." Ichigo cut her off, his mind still in shock from his father's comment. If it hadn't been, he certainly would have noticed that she looked both excited and nervous, emotions that should not have been caused by her going out to play soccer with her friends.

"7:30? Please, niichan?" Karin did something she rarely did, she turned her lips down in a slight pout and stared up at her brother with shining eyes.

"7:30." Ichigo said after less than a second of consideration. That look was cheating.

Karin held up her hand for a high-five as she skipped out the front door.

Ichigo spent a moment staring at the door after it had closed behind her, wondering what he had missed, then shrugged and went upstairs to shower and get ready for his date.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I was thinking we could go for a walk or something, maybe wander around the park. It's an unseasonably warm night." Ichigo said softly as he and Orihime exited a restaurant a few hours later.

"That sounds nice. I… I don't want this night to end." Orihime said quietly, slipping her hand into his as they turned to walk to a nearby park.

"It has been nice." Ichigo replied. "I wish we could do this more often, but I feel bad asking Ishida and Chad to take over Hollow fighting for an entire night. It's not their responsibility, it's mine, and…"

"Shhh." Orihime tugged on his hand to get him to stop walking, turning herself to face him as she laid her fingers over his lips to silence him. Then she leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips, ignoring the stares of passers-by. "You know they don't mind, and it's nice for me to know you won't have to leave in the middle of a date, which has happened a number of times."

Ichigo smiled, and raised her hand to his lips before beginning to walk once more with her beside him. "Not tonight. Tonight it's just us."

Orihime smiled as they turned into the park, a feeling of giddiness flowing through her. She was on a romantic walk with her boyfriend. They'd kissed good morning when he stopped at her apartment on the way to school, and they'd held hands as they'd walked there. They'd eaten lunch together, and walked home together. Then she'd showered and agonized over which dress to wear, and before she could miss him he'd been there again, picking her up, and they'd had a wonderful dinner at a fancy restaurant. And now they were taking a romantic walk through the park. And then afterwards he would leave her at her apartment again, and…

The words were out of Orihime's mouth before she thought about them. "I almost wish I was still having nightmares. I miss sleeping with your arms around me."

This time it was Ichigo that drew them to a halt. "I miss it too, but it's not right… I mean, it's not proper, and…"

Orihime smiled at that. After everything that they had been through, he was worried about her reputation. "I don't think it's the same for us as it is for most people our age. I mean, we've been through so much. Sometimes I feel like I'm 30. Or 40. Some of the stuff my friends talk about seems so childish sometimes, and…"

Ichigo silenced her with a kiss that left her toes curled and her head spinning. Through her daze, she heard him speak quietly.

"I know what you mean, but… When I'm with you like that, I want to do more than just hold you."

Orihime's eyes grew huge in her face as she stared at Ichigo, watching his eyes shift into the dark, passionate look he occasionally had when he looked at her and always had when he was fighting. She had no idea what to say to that.

A slightly smug look crossed his face, likely because he'd made her speechless, and Orihime could do nothing but continue to stare into his eyes as she felt him release her hand. A moment later he'd pressed a small box into that hand, kissed her lightly, and taken a small step back.

"I know I told you in school that I was going to give you your present tonight, but I didn't mean to make you have to wait this long. I'm just… I don't know what you'll think, and…"

Orihime placed her fingers over his lips again, quieting him, then looked down at the small box in her hand. It was a simple white box, unwrapped, and with a shiver of anticipation flowing through her she lifted the lid, then simply stared at the item, stunned.

Ichigo started to speak nervously. "I know you don't really wear jewelry, except for your barrettes, but I was kinda thinking that since you wear those because your brother gave them to you, you could wear this because I gave it to you. So that, uh, it was like I was always there. I picked a star because…"

"Orihime." Orihime whispered her own name quietly, stopping his rambling. "It's the star Orihime. Like in the Tanabata legend." She looked up at him, love blooming on her face. Before she could chicken out, she continued in a whisper, "Ichigo, I love you."

Ichigo froze, his mind going blank. She'd just said… He opened his mouth to say the words back to her, but nothing came out. He knew he liked her; he enjoyed spending time with her, and kissing her, and… But did he love her? He'd only ever loved four people, his family, and he knew loving a girl would feel different than that. He thought of the emptiness inside him when she'd been missing, thought of how much happier he was whenever she was with him. Was that love? But could he say it if he wasn't sure that…

Orihime brought Ichigo out of his thoughts with a gentle kiss. "I don't need the words back, Ichigo. I just finally found the courage to say them. I wanted you to know."

"Orihime…I…" Ichigo stuttered, then took a deep breath as a thought popped into his head. He wasn't sure if he could say… But he could give her something else. "My dad always says that my mom was his sun, was the center of his universe. She was my sun too. So yeah, I did think of Tanabata, but what I was really kinda thinking of was that you were my sun now. You being a star didn't seem quite right, because when I look at you there is nothing else I want to wish for."

Orihime melted into him, arms wrapped around his waist and head lying on his chest. His arms came around her just as easily, and after a moment of holding each other they pulled apart to stare into each other's eyes for a moment.

Orihime broke the connection first, looking down at the box in her hand and taking the necklace with the star pendant out of it and clasping it around her neck. "It's even more perfect when I think about it that way." She said softly, her voice almost cracking.

They kissed softly, once, twice, then as one turned and began walking through the quiet park again.

They'd been walking for a few minutes, a comfortable silence between them, when Orihime caught a flash of white off in the trees. Her eyes widened as they drew closer and she realized the white she'd seen was spiky hair. Now she could see the white of a taicho's coat as well, and that the girl who was kissing the boy as her fingers trailed into that white hair was…

Orihime glanced down quickly, finding a conveniently placed rock and making herself trip over it, letting out a cry that was probably louder than strictly necessary.

Ichigo turned towards her to keep her from falling, and over his shoulder she watched two heads whip around and see her and Ichigo there. A second later both figures were gone.

"Sorry, Ichigo, I'm fine, really, I…" Orihime mumbled nervously.

"Why don't we just head back to your place?" Ichigo replied, loosening the arms he'd put around her to stop her from falling, but not willing to release her completely. "We can watch a movie or something."

"Does that something include kissing?" Reminding herself that she had to talk to Karin at some point in the near future, Orihime let everything but Ichigo slide out of her mind.

His eyes burned a little brighter, and he turned to kiss her hungrily before taking her hand again and turning to leave the park and take the shortest route possible to her apartment.

It was Friday, meaning that they didn't have to get up early for school the next day. And she hadn't exactly reacted negatively when he said he wanted to do more than just hold her. And they were going to be alone in her apartment. And she was the one that had brought up kissing. And…

Orihime gathered her courage for the second time that night, and spoke quietly, "Will you stay with me tonight? I… I don't think I want you to do more than just hold me, but I know I want you to hold me very much."

"I could never say no to that." Ichigo said quietly as he slid his arm around her shoulders. Hers slid around his waist in return, and they quickened their pace.

TBC…

* * *

AN2: Well, she's said it. Now I just have to get him to while keeping him IC. And no, the next chapter does not continue at her apartment with a lemon, that's a tiny bit further down the road. _Raimu dake ga desu. _**evil grin** Oh, and now that you know what I meant by Ichigo's sun, I feel like I must apologize for that incredibly corny and fairly OOC speech Ichigo gave. It came into my head, I agonized over it, and in the end couldn't resist using it. (And to the reader who remembered one particular line from No Warm Memories and wanted to know when they were going to get to see it: That very small, barely there, Toshiro/Karin moment is dedicated to you.)


	10. Fears

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: OMG, I am so sorry that this part took so long. My muse just suddenly decided that I didn't need to write this, or anything else, for months. And then when she deigned to help me again, it was with a completely different story. And then once that was done, even though I had more ideas for this one as I now knew how Aizen was defeated in my version of the world, it was hard to write this. It was difficult to get into Orihime or Ichigo's heads after spending over a month inside Gin's. I'm sure you understand why. Then I got totally inspired and wrote this in about four hours and am skipping over sending it to my beta because I know how long everyone has been waiting for another part of this. Anyway, here is the next part, finally. Only one more after this.

Dedication: For Grandpa Eickhorst, who besides me was the biggest bibliophile I've never known. He died without ever reading anything I had written. Not that my work is anywhere near his normal genre, but he would have loved it because it was mine... Then he would have said I was into some really weird *hit

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 10: Fears

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_The more who rely on him, the more resolute he becomes."_

_-a Magic: the Gathering card_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

It was only slightly less awkward than Ichigo had thought it would be as he followed her into her apartment, heart still racing. He locked the door behind him as she flipped on the lights, and the next thing he knew he was pushing her back against the wall and kissing her passionately.

Orihime responded with equal passion, yet when they finally had to pull apart for air he felt her shake slightly, then tense up just as minutely.

"You know I'll do whatever you want." Ichigo whispered in her ear before pulling back enough to look into her eyes, the hand that had been buried in her hair caressing her cheek gently. "I'll even go if you want, although I really want to hold you tonight."

The mix of tenderness and longing in his eyes was almost impossible to resist, but over that was a sheen of such patience and understanding that she knew he really would be okay with whatever she told him. With whatever she needed.

"I want you to hold me, and kiss me." Orihime whispered, her eyes still gazing trancelike into his. "I… I'm not ready to… for… But I want to hold you. I want touch you, and I want to wake up with your arms around me."

Ichigo smiled gently, and leaned in to give her one of the tenderest kisses they had ever shared, his hands softly caressing her sides in a complete contrast to how roughly he had grabbed her a moment ago.

"I… I still have a few of Sora's yukata." Orihime said softly. Although he'd held her for weeks because of the nightmares, he'd always kept his jeans and t-shirt on, which was probably what was making her so nervous tonight. Always before, he'd held her, he'd slept with her, to protect her from nightmares. This time he was here because it was what they both wanted.

Ichigo nodded wordlessly, and Orihime crossed the room to draw two yukata from her closet before passing him one and quickly sliding past him into the small bathroom.

Ichigo changed quickly, just as nervous as she seemed to be. He had been tempted before when he stayed with her to try for more than just kissing, but it had been easy to hold back knowing what she had been through. Knowing he was there as a friend, knowing he needed to help her and not confuse her life more, had made it possible to resist.

But tonight he was just here as her boyfriend.

Needing something to do while she was in the bathroom, Ichigo moved to the closet and spread her futon, tucking the sheets in carefully and smoothing them multiple times before realizing he was being absolutely ridiculous and beginning to pace the small room.

He froze when he heard the bathroom door open quietly behind him, curious as to whether her anxiety level matched his own and as to what she would do. He both heard and felt her cross the room to him, a slight hesitation accompanied by a gasp letting him know when she noticed that he'd spread the futon. Yet she still walked up behind him bravely, wrapping her arms around him and pillowing her head on his back.

"I love you so much." Orihime whispered as she cuddled in against his back, loving how his arms came up to cover her own as she wrapped them around his waist. She was perfectly relaxed as she said the words and therefore felt his slight stiffening. With a soft sigh, she slid one of her hands out from under his and up to cover his heart.

It wouldn't be tonight then, Orihime thought even as he turned in her arms and began to kiss her gently. He'd done this the last few times she said the words to him, as if he was trying to show her what he couldn't say. But Orihime was finally getting a little worried about the fact that he would never say the words.

What if he never did? Could she stay with him, give herself to him, if he couldn't even find the courage to say those three little words?

Ichigo kissed her softly, trying to put all his love into the kiss. He couldn't say the words.

It wasn't that he didn't love her, he'd realized weeks ago that he did. And he knew how much the words would mean to her.

But he remembered what had happened after he'd defeated Aizen. Aizen had been taunting him, trying to destroy his moral and his confidence. He'd told the lie, once again, that he and his people had done something to Orihime down in Hueco Mundo, and that she would never be the same.

He'd felt the rage spiral up again, the same rage and power he'd felt when she called his name after Ulquiorra had almost killed him, and this time when he had changed into a full Hollow he remembered everything he'd done, although he hadn't really been in control while he was doing it.

He'd attacked Aizen like mad the instant he started to go though one of his changes, remembering Hitsugaya's whispered instructions. He had no idea how the boy had suddenly learned so much about how to fight Aizen, but he trusted him more than any Shinigami except for Rukia and Renji, and he knew the boy was recounted a brilliant tactician. He wouldn't have told Ichigo unless he was certain he was correct.

His memories of the actual fight were slightly foggy, but became crystal clear again the instant his zanpakuto pierced Aizen's chest. His chest began burning, and even as Aizen fell, finally dead, Ichigo gave a shout and began to fall with him. He realized what the burning was an instant later, as well as the reason Aizen had finally been able to be killed; the Hyogaku was now inside of him.

Whatever he wanted…. Whatever his dream was….

"KUROSAKI-KUN!"

A terrified yell broke through his thoughts as he finally hit the ground, and although the pain was intense he spun instinctively into a crouch, ready to spring at the white-garbed redhead running towards him.

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo startled out of his thoughts as Orihime shook his shoulders, calling his name loudly.

"I…what…." Ichigo tried to banish his scattered thoughts and keep himself in the here and now. The frightening memory had cooled his ardor, and when his arms wrapped around her and he rested his cheek on her hair it was out of a desire for comfort more than anything else.

"What were you remembering?" Orihime said quietly as she held him close. Although the weeks he had slept beside her had been to keep her from having nightmares, he'd woken from a few of his own. She had seen the look she had just seen in his eyes several times before, although always when he was waking up from a nightmare.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I…."

Her face hardened slightly and she pulled back a little. "If you don't want to tell me it's okay. It took me long enough to tell you my nightmares. But don't lie to me."

Ichigo closed his eyes, slightly ashamed, then took a deep breath before opening his eyes again and holding her gaze. "I don't want to talk tonight, I'm sorry. I… I can't talk about this yet. But… But I want to hold you so much."

Orihime smiled gently. "Then come to bed." She reached past him to turn out the lights, then led him by the hand to her futon, where she climbed in. He hesitated only a moment before sliding in next to her, and a slight shudder ran though his body as he slid his arms around her and snuggled close.

Ichigo relaxed totally as her arm came up to curl around his, more grateful for her gentle understanding than he could ever remember being.

"I love you." Orihime whispered quietly. "I'm sorry it hurts you to hear it."

She'd been silent for so long that he tensed at her remark before relaxing again, kissing her softly on the shoulder blade through her yukata. "It only hurts because the first woman I loved, the first to love me, died because of me." He managed to say. It was half the truth, but the best he could do at the moment.

Now it was Orihime's turn to tense up, for the fact that he had called his mother the 'first woman' implied that there was another. "It wasn't your fault." She said softly, knowing that now wasn't the time to push.

"I know that on one level, but on another…." Ichigo couldn't stop the shudder that ran though him, and was grateful when she only responded with silence. "I'm sorry… this was supposed to be a happy day."

"I had a wonderful day, and I get to end it by falling asleep in your arms." Orihime said softly, raising one of his hands from her waist enough to kiss it gently.

Unable to speak, Ichigo simply snuggled closer to her and closed his eyes.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_One week later_

Orihime knocked on the Kurosaki door a little after dinnertime the following Sunday, and was surprised when it was Karin who opened the door for her a moment later. Her and Ichigo had gotten into the habit of spending Sunday evenings studying and cuddling, and he always greeted her at the door.

"Hi, Orihime-nee." Karin said with a slightly desperate air as she stepped back to allow the older girl in. "Ichigo called a little while ago saying he was going to be late getting back. He went to watch Tatsuki in a karate tournament this afternoon… and uh… you can just wait in his room…."

Orihime watched with a fond smile as the girl retreated into the kitchen, and followed quietly. "Where are your dad and Yuzu-chan?"

"Um, they're at a movie, and well…"

"How did you meet Toshiro-kun?" Orihime asked quietly, glad she'd finally found a moment to talk to the girl. She saw the instant denial on Karin's face, but she merely raised an eyebrow to show her that she wasn't going to get out of this talk.

"Before you, um… disappeared…" Karin looked at the older girl hopefully, but when she said nothing and Karin detected a brief surge of pain in her reiatsu she quickly went on, "When he and the others were staying here…um… I met him. I didn't know he was a Shinigami at first, I already liked him by the time I found out he wasn't human. He saved me from a Hollow… was amazed that I could see him…"

"And you're dating him?" Orihime asked.

"Kinda, I mean… he can't come down here much. He said only like once a month, and it was going to be the same day. The first of the month. I made him chocolates on Valentines Day, knowing he wouldn't be there, but somehow he was. He said everyone in Seireitei was talking about this holiday they celebrated on earth: he even knew what the chocolates meant."

Orihime grinned, suddenly even gladder that Rukia had stopped by the night she'd been making her own chocolates. From what she'd seen when she was in Seireitei, they could use a little more love and happiness up there.

"And he came again last week." Orihime said softly. "For White Day."

Karin walked closer and pulled a thin gold charm bracelet from under the sleeve of her sweater. It held two charms; a soccer ball, and an oval-shaped emerald the exact color of a certain taicho's eyes.

"It's beautiful." Orihime smiled, fingering the necklace Ichigo had given her.

"Ichigo will try to kill him." Karin said, her eyes locked on Orihime's.

"Who's going to tell him?" Orihime said with a smile, pulling a bottle of juice out of the fridge before turning, planning to head up to Ichigo's room.

"Neechan?" Karin asked quietly when she was almost out of the room.

Orihime turned with a smile.

"Ichi-nii said he won't be back for at least an hour… Could we go for a walk in the park or something? Like we used to?"

Orihime smiled before crossing the room and putting the juice back in the fridge. "Of course we can."

Karin eagerly pulled her jacket off of the back of a chair before grabbing her soccer ball bag from under the same chair. "Can I show you what Urahara-san's been teaching me?"

Orihime's smile grew, remembering her pride and feelings of accomplishment when her own powers had first begun to manifest and grow. "Only if the park is empty."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Tadaima." Ichigo called out as he pulled open the door to his house, surprised that none of the lights were on. He walked through to the kitchen, smiling when he found a note from Orihime on the table saying that his father and Yuzu were at a movie, and she had gone for a walk in the park with Karin.

Putting his jacket back on rather than dropping it on the floor, he headed back towards the front door. He had just touched the knob when the Hollow-detector in his pocket went off, and he felt a sudden drastic surge in Orihime's reiatsu even though he knew she was blocks away. He felt another surge a moment later, one he knew was Karin, and his hand was in his pocket faster than he would have thought possible. Slamming the deputy-Shinigami badge to his chest, Ichigo let his body drop in the entryway as he flew threw the door.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Santen Kesshun." Orihime said, fingers at her temple as she spun to face Karin, her shield flickering to life a second before the girl's soccer ball bounced off of it.

Karin was fast; she caught the ball on the rebound even as she laughed. "I'm getting better, aren't I?"

Orihime remembered walking in on her training with Urahara-san nearly a month ago, and nodded her head as she let her shield vanish. "Much better."

They'd been sparring for a little while now, and both were breathing slightly heavily.

"I know it's probably nothing compared to what you're used to watching Ichigo doing, but…" Karin trailed off, her head suddenly whipping to the left as she looked up into the sky.

Orihime felt it at the same instant, and she reacted instinctively even as she felt the evil coming. She sprinted across the dozen or so feet between her and Karin, and put herself in front of the younger girl. "Santen Kesshun."

Even as the triangle-shaped shield flashed into existence, she felt Karin's reiatsu spike to nearly the level she knew her own was at.

"Stay behind me." Orihime ordered, raising her hand to her temple in readiness. She hated attacking, hated hurting anything even if she knew it was evil. But she would do anything to protect Karin.

Karin slid a little bit to the side, staying behind the shield but still ready to attack around it. She'd seen a few Hollows before, and knew what to expect.

"What….what are those?"

Orihime heard Karin's voice shutter, and couldn't blame the girl. For what materialized out of the sky was not one Hollow, but instead at least half-a-dozen Gillians.

Although there had been more Hollows around than normal over the past months, they knew that was simply because of all the leftover reiatsu in the area from the battles. It hadn't occurred to Orihime that their sparring could draw attention.

The first of the Gillians moved to attack, and Tsubaki flew only a second ahead of a glowing soccer ball.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ichigo blazed into the clearing, bankai already released, a crescent-shaped flash of black and red light cutting through two Gillians before they even knew he was there. He took a second to appraise the ground below him and his terror dropped a few notches.

Karin and Orihime stood back to back, although they constantly circled. Orihime's shield was being controlled by one hand, and she constantly twisted at the waist to use it to protect Karin as well. Tsubaki was being directed by her other hand, and Ichigo was almost amused to notice that a glowing soccer ball often followed in his wake, and that for no reason Ichigo could figure out it seemed to trail in his wake every time he returned to Orihime. The two attacks together were enough to destroy a single Gillian, but more and more seemed to be materializing around the girls.

Ichigo destroyed several more Gillians, noting the brief falter in Orihime's rhythm that showed she knew he was there.

Although he could destroy several at a time, and the girls could take them one by one, Ichigo was still worried about the sheer number that seemed to be appearing. If one of them went down…

A sudden scream from behind her caused Orihime to jerk around, leaving her back completely open. Karin's arm was smoking where one of them had hit her, and she was kneeling on the ground, apparently in too much pain to think of anything else.

For the first time ever Orihime activated all three of her powers at once.

Her healing shield flared to life around Karin, Tsubaki shot towards one of the two Gillians facing them with more deadly intent than she had ever felt, and her tri-shield sprang into existence to block the bolt of red fire coming from the other Gillian.

Even though she felt the one coming in at her back, she didn't move. She had to protect Karin!

A huge explosion of reiatsu that she'd felt only twice before flared behind her, and without thought Orihime grabbed Karin and moved to put their backs to a huge tree, her shield guarding them.

Ichigo, in full Hollow form, didn't even spare them a glance as he tore into the Gillians.

TBC….

* * *

AN2: Yeah, I'm changing how Ichigo and Aizen's final fight went. I kinda had to no matter what, since I'd begun writing this series long before the war ended in the manga, and it would have been way too hard to change everything so that the same thing happened to Ichigo as in the manga. (trying to be vague for those who haven't read it.) So in my world Ichigo is still the deputy-Shinigami of Karakura Town after the war ends, and still has problems with shifting into full Hollow. At some point I may actually write a story about the end of the war, since numerous stories have now referenced things from it, but we'll see. Any questions about what happened, just ask me. I mostly have it figured out.


	11. Words

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who stuck with me, as this story took longer than I had anticipated. I hope it was worth it. I didn't get to reply individually to anyone who reviewed the last part, but know that your reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh, and Kaze-chan, the fact that I didn't send this to you to beta doesn't mean I don't love you anymore, I just really wanted to post this now that I've finally finished it, and was fairly sure my readers would agree. Oh, and yes, one more thing. Lemon Warning.

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Chapter 11: Words

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight. I need help believing you're with me tonight. _

_My wildest dreamings could not foresee, lying beside you, with you wanting me. _

_'As Long As You're Mine' from "Wicked"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Karin let loose a scream of terror as Hollow-Ichigo massacred the Gillians, and only Orihime grabbing the girl tightly kept her from trying to charge into the fight.

"It's okay, it's Ichigo." Orihime said softly, more to reassure herself than anything else, although she knew his sister could hear her.

"That…. That's Ichi…" Karin cut off as she obviously sensed the truth of the older girl's words.

"Just be quiet, okay. Don't move." Orihime clutched the girl to her, grateful when Karin's arms wrapped around her in return. "He's…. his control isn't the best when he's like this."

"You've seen this before?" Karin asked in awe as she watched him rip though four Gillians with a single whip-like movement of his hand. Although the wound on her upper arm still burned, Orihime had healed it enough that she could think through the pain, and at the moment she was so fascinated by watching her brother fight in his new form that the pain was almost easy to ignore.

"Twice, and both times I was the only one that could bring him out of it." Orihime whispered, letting her shield fade away as the last of the Gillians was destroyed. "Stay here, don't move or speak. No matter what. Please."

Karin didn't respond, and Orihime wasted a moment to grab the girl by the chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "Promise me, Karin."

A growl emerged from Ichigo as he landed on the ground not too far from them, still in Hollow form, and Karin's gaze flicked fearfully to him before she whispered, "I promise, Orihime."

"Ichigo." Orihime said softly as she approached him. Although he looked at her, and some of the rage seemed to leave his eyes, he showed no sign of shifting back.

Orihime took another careful step forward, pausing when he growled, but then continuing to move forward. "Ichigo-kun, it's me. It's Orihime. Everything's okay."

Ichigo's form took a single step towards her, then snarled and darted away.

"Ichigo… I love you." Orihime said in panic, amazed when it worked and he froze again, looking towards her. "I don't need you to change like this whenever I'm in danger. I... I love you for being so overprotective, and I trust you to protect me. I'm not afraid of you, even when you're like this. But, please, turn back into my Ichigo."

"Hime."

Orihime had been advancing as she spoke, and it was only the fact that she now stood less than a foot away from him that allowed her to hear his whisper.

Closing the final distance, Orihime wrapped her arms around him, praying that the gasp she heard Karin give wouldn't break this fragile peace. His arms wrapped around her, clutching almost desperately, and she nearly fell to her knees from the shock of being so close to him as his power flared again.

"Our Orihime."

She managed to pull back enough to look at him, and without thought leaned up to kiss him as well as she could through the mask.

The mask shattered, and she could feel Ichigo's form changing even as he continued to cling to her, kissing her desperately.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"I…I promise we'll explain in the morning, Karin-chan." Orihime said as she rose from Karin's bedside, letting her healing shield fade as the wound on Karin's arm finally healed fully. "I just don't have time tonight." She glanced across the hall to the closed door of Ichigo's bedroom. "He… he needs me right now. I…"

"Go, Orihime, it's okay." Karin said softly, remembering how broken her brother had seemed on the short walk home. She reached over to her clock-radio and turned it on, hitting the preprogrammed number for a classical station. "I just want to go to sleep."

Orihime gave her one worried glance before hurrying from the room, closing the door softly behind her. She knocked on Ichigo's door softly, saying his name when there was no answer to her knock.

Then she just quietly opened the door and went in.

Her heart almost broke when she found him sitting on the side of his bed, head in his hands, a few tears trailing down his cheeks.

She closed the door behind her, and he looked up quickly. "Karin's okay?"

"She's fine." Orihime replied quietly. "I told her we'd explain in the morning. I… I'm sorry she got hurt. I should have protected her better…"

"It wasn't your fault." Ichigo replied immediately. "I'm just glad you were there with her."

"She kept her head, did exactly what I told her to. She's pretty good. She um…she went to sleep."

Ichigo glanced at the clock. "It's barely 8pm."

"And she had a very busy day." Orihime replied. "Her reiatsu… she spiked it to almost as high as mine can get. And I don't think she's ever attacked at full power that many times before, from what she was telling me earlier Urahara-san's been working more on her accuracy with the shot, and her other power, more than he has transferring reiatsu, and well… she seemed pretty exhausted. You remember what it felt like in the beginning…"

Ichigo nodded, and then was silent for several minutes while Orihime just stood quietly watching him.

"I can't control it." Ichigo whispered finally, and she took that as an invitation to go and sit beside him, hesitantly putting an arm around his shoulders, leaning her head unto the nearest one when he didn't pull away.

"I remember it though. I didn't the first time, but the last two I remember. I remember what I did, but it's like someone else was doing it." Ichigo had stopped crying, but refused to look at her and stiffened in her embrace. "I thought it was just because I was fighting such powerful enemies, but if it happens anytime you're in danger…"

Orihime recognized the look in his eyes, and her heart bled for him. "This is what you've been having nightmares about."

Ichigo nodded, suddenly reaching over and hugging her tightly. "I can't think straight when you're in danger." His voice was barely a whisper. "I barely survived losing my mom, I can't lose you too. But what if I hurt you when I'm like that…"

"You would never hurt me, Ichigo." Orihime said with certainty, remembering what she'd said to Karin earlier. "In fact, I seem to be the only one your Hollow recognizes."

"That's because_ he _loves you too."

Orihime inhaled in shock, the hands that had been running up and down his back freezing.

Ichigo froze as well, realizing not only _what_ he had said but _how_ he had said it. Pulling back from her quickly, Ichigo cupped her face with both of his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "Orihime, I love you."

Orihime felt her eyes fill with tears, and couldn't stop her breath from hitching, both at the words themselves and at the love burning in his eyes for her.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to say it." Ichigo whispered, wiping her tears away only to have them be replaced with new ones. "I was afraid. So afraid that if I admitted I loved you, I'd lose you just like I lost my mom."

Now it was her turn to wipe his tears away, and she went one step further to gently kiss one of his cheeks. "And if I had died tonight, how would you have felt about never having told me?" Orihime said it gently, remember how she'd felt about the fact that she'd had a fight with her brother right before he died.

Ichigo choked and clutched her to him. "I love you. I do. And I'm so sorry."

"I love you." She whispered back as her hands slid up into his hair, pulling him back enough to look into his eyes again. "We'll have to talk about your Hollow form, and how to control it, but can we just forget about it tonight? Can we just forget about everything except the two of us?"

His face stayed blank for a moment, then a blush slowly spread up his cheeks. Orihime giggled at just how adorable he looked as both hope and anxiety came into his face. Then over it all swept a look of such longing and desire that she could barely catch her breath.

"Orihime? Are… are you sure?" His voice was so uncertain it caused her to giggle again; he never sounded uncertain.

Orihime reached up to pull the pins from her hair, setting them on his nightstand. "I want you to do more than hold me tonight." Orihime whispered as she shifted to kneel over his lap, the way he was sitting putting their heads on an almost equal level. Delighted she didn't have to crane her neck leaning up, Orihime slid her body against his slowly and began kissing him.

Ichigo's hands began to move of their own accord, sliding slowly up the bed to touch her knees. She trembled at the touch, and with a slight surge of pride Ichigo trailed his hands up her bare upper legs, stopping only when his long fingers reached the edge of her short pleated skirt, although he did slide the edges of his fingers under the skirt and felt the joy of her trembling once again.

Orihime pulled away from the kiss as his fingers slid under her skirt, the hesitant flickering of his thumbs on her inner thighs sending waves of heat through her body. Although she wanted to do this, Orihime was still slightly shy as she held his eyes and reached up to undo the top button of her shirt.

His hands immediately covered her own, and as he undid the second button Orihime let her hands slide down his arms, caressing the muscles he'd put so much work into. She saw the moment he realized he'd undone the last button, for his hands slid up to her shoulders to push the shirt off of them even as his eyes slid down to her chest.

The heat in his eyes making her nervous, Orihime slid her hands up shyly to cover her own chest. His eyes moved back to hers immediately, and Orihime found herself lost in another drowning kiss. She was so lost in his scent and smell and taste that she barely noticed it when his hands shifted from caressing her back to fumbling at the hook of her bra for a moment before unhooking it with a small snap.

His eyes still on hers, Ichigo broke the kiss, pulling back from her enough to slid the bra down her arms after he had carefully unwound them from her chest. He put his hands on the sides of her waist, slowly sliding them up. He tortured them both by brushing his fingers lightly over her breasts, taking his time before he brushed his thumbs over her nipples.

Orihime's breath caught as nerves she hadn't known she had sprang to life, and when his eyes dropped to her chest again she no longer felt shy.

"You're so beautiful." Ichigo whispered, his fingers dancing over her chest for a moment before his mouth followed, and he chuckled under his breath when her body went taunt as a bowstring before turning boneless as he took one of her nipples gently into his mouth and began to suck.

Orihime shuddered each time his tongue flicked over her, amazed at the sensations running through her even as she wondered how she could survive more. She slid her hands from his waist slowly up his chest under his shirt, and when she began to tug slightly he took the hint and pulled away from her long enough to help her tug the shirt over his head.

Orihime was still staring at his chest, feeling slightly lightheaded from watching the muscles ripple as he had lifted his arms over his head to remove the shirt, when she heard a slight chuckle.

Ignoring him, although she felt the blush creep up her face, Orihime ran her fingers lightly over his chest, giggling when he made his pecs twitch as her fingers passed over them.

She giggled again when his breath caught as her fingers flicked at his nipples as he had done to her, but the giggle turned into a moan an instant later as his hands cupped her ass and pulled her closer to him.

The first brush of their cores, even through their clothing, caused Ichigo to moan as well, and he drew her lips to his in another searing kiss.

Clothes were slowly discarded as they continued to kiss and explore one another, and for the first time both of them allowed themselves to forget their worries and just feel. Just be with one another.

It seemed so right now, so perfect. Ichigo was glad they had managed to wait, for this seemed like exactly the right time.

She loved him enough that she had been able to hug him, to _kiss_ him, while he was in Hollow form. She trusted him, even then.

He had finally told her he loved her.

Yet as they touched and kissed, heartbeats slowly speeding up and hands eventually growing more curious and less hesitant, Ichigo did wonder _how_ they had managed to wait.

How had they not done this before? How had he borne not running his hands up her bare legs, her narrow waist, lingering on her belly button to make her giggle? How had just the taste of her lips been enough when the taste of her skin was so amazing?

Orihime found that time seemed to randomly speed up and slow down as Ichigo's hands and mouth worked wonders on her body. It seemed like he would never grow tired of touching or kissing her. And she understood the feeling, for she couldn't imagine ever growing tired of looking at him. Of touching him the way she had wanted to for so long. Knowing that tonight they weren't going to stop, knowing that…

Orihime's thoughts shattered into a million pieces as his hand brushed her core for the first time, and she actually bit the bottom of her lip to stop her moan from getting louder as her entire body trembled, fire flashing through her.

Ichigo's fingers stroked her again, one sliding slightly inside her, and this time he kissed her as he did it, swallowing her moan of pleasure. "Next time we do this at your place." His voice was a husky whisper. "You sound so sexy right now." His eyes and hand traced over her as his one hand stayed where it had been, wringing soft sounds of pleasure from her. "You're so beautiful."

"I feel beautiful right now." She offered hesitantly as her hands traced over his body, reaching down to cup him lightly.

Now it was his turn to bit his lip to keep himself quiet.

Hearts continued to race and breath came more and more gaspingly until finally Orihime turned her head into the pillow to muffle her cries as he drove her over the shimmering edge, her vision going white as fire poured through her body, leaving her utterly limp and trying to remember how to breath.

"Ichi….Ichigo…that was… that…"

He bent his head to suckle gently at her breast. "We're not done yet." He whispered after a moment, a deep chuckle coming through in his voice.

"I know. I just… uh… top of my head-blown off-" she gasped.

"I hope that's a good thing." Ichigo chuckled again as he cut her off before she could start to babble. He recognized the signs.

Orihime giggled. "The best." Then she looked momentarily flummoxed. "Oh, but um… do you have…."

Ichigo grinned as he reached into the bedside table. "The good thing about Dad having that clinic. He actually tried to give them to me that first day he found us sleeping up here."

"He… he…" Orihime stuttered as he quickly ripped open the packet and put it on.

"He knows what we've been through." Ichigo whispered as he ran his fingers over her face. "He trusts us."

They kissed again as he slowly slid on top of her, and Orihime gave a nervous giggle as she felt him between her legs, not entering her yet but definitely _there_. "I was nervous at first…. I mean, I've never… but you're so good at this."

Ichigo chuckled again even as pride surged through him. "Well, I've only done it about a million times." There was a very pregnant pause before he grinned. "In my head. With you."

He pressed his mouth to hers again, and they kissed passionately even as Orihime began wrapping herself around him as closely as she could. She split her legs to allow him to slid between them, and he slid into her slowly until they were complete.

Even as he paused to give her time to adjust, kissing away the single tear that trailed down her cheek and hating that he had to hurt her even a little, he couldn't help but notice the conflicting emotions inside him. How could he feel so safe and complete, and yet so vulnerable at the same time?

Orihime had been waiting for this and dreaming of this for years, and now they were finally together as she'd always known they were meant to be. The slight pain she'd been prepared for was already washing away as a feeling of total rightness flowed through her, and when he whispered her name softly, starting to ask if she was okay, she simply shifted her hips a little away from him before moving back.

His eyes brightened as he began to thrust gently, his hands supporting his weight even as her own hands raised to his chest to trace the outlines of his muscles.

Time lost all meaning.

Orihime felt herself scaling that tall peak, and she flew over the edge again just as he started to move faster, almost frantically.

Ichigo cried out, trying to muffle his voice in the pillow below her head, then collapsed on top of her as he slid her arms under her body to hold her closely, both of them still shuddering.

It was like the polar opposite of when he'd been training for Bankai. Or of when he changed into a Hollow. He'd known pain coursing through his body, pain worse than most people ever felt; now he knew what it was like to feel the exact opposite in every fiber of his being.

"How's the top of your head?" he asked impishly, whispering into her ear as he didn't have the energy to move just yet.

"Flying somewhere above the town." Orihime answered softly. "I love you. So much…"

"I love you." Ichigo replied as he rolled off of her, burying the condom in the bottom of the trash can beside his bed so his sisters wouldn't see it. "And I'm going to say it so often from now on that you'll get tired of hearing it.

"I'll never get tired of hearing it." Orihime whispered as she turned onto her side, waiting for him to spoon in behind her. Instead she turned curiously when she felt him leave the bed, and her breathing started speeding up again as he crossed the moonlight-filled room naked, locking his door and then sliding the chair from his desk under the knob.

"Hopefully Dad'll get the hint in the morning." Ichigo said with a grin as he crossed back to her. He would have been amused by the way she was staring at him but for the fact that she'd sat up and let the covers pool at her waist. He was staring just as much as she was.

"It's after 10 already, we have school in the morning." Orihime whispered as he reached for her again.

"So we'll be tired tomorrow." He replied as he began kissing her.

"I think it'll be worth it." She agreed.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

Ichigo awoke the next morning at 6am like he always did, despite the fact that he'd only been sleeping for a few hours. He sensed his dad at the door for an instant, but he likely sensed the energies in the room for he didn't even try to knock.

As the footsteps moved down the hall towards his sisters' room, Ichigo sighed and cuddled back around Orihime, sliding some hair away from her face so he could see her profile in the sunlight just starting to filter through his blinds.

His eyes slid shut as he remembered his dream that wasn't a dream from the night before, the final words of his inner Hollow echoing in his mind just as his alarm clock went off.

"_As long as you fear me I will have power over you; learn to love me as she does and all will be well. After all, I'm just a part of you."_

Ichigo turned off his alarm and leaned down to kiss Orihime gently as she began to awaken.

He knew it would take time for him to learn to work with and accept the Hollow, but he knew Orihime's acceptance of him had taken away any danger. Now that he no longer worried about hurting her, he would be able to do this.

As the girl in his arms slowly awoke and began to return his kiss, Ichigo knew for certain that all would indeed be well.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Don't be ashamed to cry_

_Let me see you through_

_'Cause I've seen the dark side too_

_When the night falls on you_

_You don't know what to do_

_Nothing you confess_

_Could make me love you less_

_I'll stand by you_

"_I'll Stand By You" by the Pretenders_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

THE END

* * *

AN: Thanks again to everyone who stuck with me through this, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry if the realization with his Hollow seems like I'm cheating, and I may show Ichigo dealing with this in future stories, but this fic was about him and Orihime, and I didn't want to lengthen it just to deal with the Hollow.

The epilogue Omake will be out within a few days, and I hope you enjoy that as much as people have enjoyed the few other omake scenes I've done.

There is currently a poll up on my main page for which story in the series will be next. Please let me know what you think.


	12. Omake: Radio Kon

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I am making no money from this. I also do not own any of the quotes I use in any chapter.

AN: In case you haven't read one of these before: Yes, I know it's _Radio_ Kon, but I always say there's a video camera as well… And as people liked the others, I decided it was time to write another one, as I do love writing comedy from time to time. (For those of you who are curious, this is my third Radio Kon omake like this. The first two are the last chapters of No Warm Memories and In Times That She Cried)

* * *

I'll Stand By You

By Lady Callista

Epilogue: Omake, Radio Kon

"Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of Radio Kon. We were supposed to have Lady Callista, the author of the After The Winter War series, with us again tonight but she seems to be running a bit late…"

"That means you have time to change into your costume!" Yuzu cried as she darted to the bed Kon was sitting on, grabbed the protesting plushie, and pulled him out of the frame.

Kon's voice drifted out, growing more panicked by the moment, "No, I absolutely refuse. I know you get to dress me up during the actual show, but not for _my_ show! Besides, now there's nothing for anyone to watch, and…"

"I thought you didn't want Callista-sama on the show again." Karin's voice wafted in. "The last two times there were almost brawls as the Shinigami argued over which story she should write next…"

"Yes, that's why I'm deigning to use your bedroom for my show." Kon's voice was muffled, likely because he was currently being shoved into some costume or other. "By the time any of them can get to Earth… But please… We need to be showing something out there. I had a clip from this last story, and…"

"Yuzu-chan! I don't want to… Yuzu…. No…" Karin's protests stopped abruptly as she was pushed into the frame, and she glanced nervously at the camera for a moment before stuttering, "So, yeah, this is Radio Kon, and…"

"Just play the clip!" Kon's voice was still muffled. "What are you doing with that marker? No…."

"You're the one who wanted to make the joke about…"

"Here's the clip while we wait for Callista-sama to show up." Karin announced loudly.

The camera spun to the TV, which began to play the scene where Orihime kissed Ichigo when he was in full Hollow form, and the mask had just started to break when Kon was shoved in front of the TV and held there by Yuzu.

Ignoring the camera, he struggled in Yuzu's hands as he tried to wipe off the two clock hands she'd drawn on his face and struggle out the costume that made him look like a grandfather clock at the same time.

Yuzu pushed a doll into the frame even as the camera started to draw back, revealing Yuzu in a Mrs. Potts costume, holding one of her dolls dressed like a candlestick in one hand and a still struggling Kon in the other hand. "You wanted to make Beauty and the Beast jokes, I just wanted to help…"

Karin had just doubled over laughing when the door slammed open.

"You know not to invite people over without answering the door for them." Ichigo's voice came from out of the frame, and the camera hurriedly panned over to the bedroom door as he walked in with his hand on the back of a blond girl who had her head tipped down so that her long hair hid her face. "You're lucky it was a girl so dad didn't attack her, but he was asking her all sorts of questions, I think he thought I was cheating on Orihime or something… wait… what the hell is going on here?"

The blond girl tipped her head up and smiled at Ichigo. "It's been a while, Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo choked on air. "Ca… Callista-sama?" Then he looked around the room, noting the filming equipment, and his gaze locked onto the TV, frozen just as Orihime kissed his Hollow-form, and he noted the girl and two plushies in front of it.

Yuzu had just started singing "Tale as old as time…" when the sounds of Orihime's laughter began to echo through the room.

"I kinda always wanted to be Sleeping Beauty, but I can see Belle…" Orihime managed after a minute, still in the doorway. "Doing another show, Callista-sama?"

"Yes, and Kon was nice enough to agree, so long as we didn't do it in Seireitei like normal. All the Shinigami bursting in last time really worried him, but he figured that if we did it down here…" Callista smiled as she took a seat on the bed, her face showing nothing but resignation as she was suddenly cut off.

"Then all the Shinigami would just come here." Rukia's voice was unmistakable, and the camera turned quickly to the window as she jumped in, a wave of figures in black shihakusho, some with white haori, training behind her.

"How… what…. How?" Kon babbled even as Karin launched herself at Toshiro, who was one of the first through the window. As they kissed briefly before smirking at each other, Kon's glare turned murderous. "You told him!"

"I may have mentioned it." Karin said cheekily.

"Besides, why should you talk to her when we cannot?" Byakuya asked as him and Rangiku jumped into the already crowded room hand in hand. "It's not like she will ever write a story about you, whereas…"

"Whereas I star in two and will be getting a third." Rangiku smirked.

"You ain't the star of For Her Smile, Ran-chan." Gin drawled from the corner of the room.

"Co-star then." She retorted. "Even the title says so."

"Well, I'm in the process of getting my second," Momo chimed in, "If Callista-sama ever gets back to writing it."

"I will." Callista managed to insert, "It's just that I was also thinking of starting…"

"You're doing me finally, aren't you?" Renji interrupted, slinging an arm around Rukia. "Finally, we get to…"

"What third one are you talking about, Matsumoto?" Toshiro wanted to know.

"Are you finally doing Girl Talk?" Yoroichi asked, shifting to cat form in order to take up a little less space and jumping into her favored spot on the author's lap.

Callista began to pet her unconsciously as she started to speak, "Well, I was going to…"

"Why can't you do one with the guys?" Hisagi asked with almost a whine. "I'm barely in anything…"

"Actually, have you been in anything at all?" Rangiku asked as she turned to him.

"Um…well… I think I was mentioned in…"

"Please tell me you're doing Girl Talk." Nanao cut in. "I know you don't have my love story ready yet, but…"

"You really should get to us." Shunsui added, not even flinching as his fukutaicho smacked him with her fan for interrupting her. "I'd be happy to take you out for sake and regale you with tales of…"

"I just wanna fight. I'm getting bored." Kenpachi cut in even as Yachiru raised herself up enough from his back to wave at Callista.

"Callie-chan, just let us be in one a little. Please…"

"Yeah, give us something to fight, come on. Lucky, lucky, luc…whaaaa" Ikkaku added, trying to do his little dance and tripping over Izuru in the process.

As both men went down in a heap, starting a chain reaction that took out nearly half the Shinigami who were wedged into the overcrowded room, Callista giggled. "Well, I don't really write much fighting stuff, but…"

"But you said you might write more of the War itself." Aizen cut her off, puffing out his chest. "After all, I deserve to be seen in much more than a flashback or two."

"Yeah, we don't even know everything we're supposed to have done. What happened? How exactly did the war end?" Momo chimed in, her eyes glazing over momentarily as she looked at her ex-taicho.

Rangiku released Byakuya's hand to snap her fingers in Momo's face, and the girl flinched before blushing as Rangiku commented, "I still say Girl Talk, cause Scars is so angst-filled you should balance it with something happy."

"But she's barely writing Scars." Izuru huffed. "One chapter all those months ago, and then nothing. She should just concentrate on that…"

"But I want my own story!" Rukia pouted. "I know I'll be in Girl Talk, but Renji and I have been waiting so long…"

"What about me?" Yuzu chimed in, although only Callista, Yoroichi, Karin, and Kon were close enough to hear her soft voice. "Karin has two stories, and is in a few chapters of Ichigo's, but I'm barely…"

"Yeah, I guess I was thinking about how fun Girl Talk would be, but am I even going to get a romance?" Yoroichi cut in.

"At least you're in stories, Kuchiki-san." Ukitaki-taicho chimed in. "I believe this is the first time I have even been seen."

"I can understand why Scars is hard for her, Izuru-kun." Momo's voice overlapped with several others, "I mean…"

"You're not the only taicho who is rarely if ever seen." SoiFon said harshly. "Even with all this talk of my Yoroichi getting to star in a story, there is no mention of me…"

"She does seem to have favorites as far as who she writes…"

"She writes characters she knows people want to read about…"

"No, she always tries to use as many as possible, it's just that…"

"Can you just make the camera focus in on us?" Callista leaned down to whisper quietly to Kon. "They're not going to hear anything I have to say anyway. Once they show up I never even get to finish a sentence, and I always lose track of who is arguing with who."

Kon nodded, and a second later the camera zoomed in on Callista and she spoke to it with a smile. "What they only half-understand is that I don't necessarily pick which story I do next, I've been letting my readers do that. There's currently a poll up on my profile page that I would love everyone to vote on. Thanks so much for your time and goodnight."

Kon nodded that the camera had cut, and Callista turned to the Shinigami cat still on her lap. "Can you get me out of here?"

Yoroichi hopped off of her lap to sit beside Callista, and a moment later a woman sat on the bed smirking. "Trust me?"

Callista nodded.

"Ever dream of flying?"

Callista's laugh echoed through the room, and she was gone by the time everyone turned to look at her.

"What? Where…"

"Ah, the Flash Goddess." Byakuya commented idly.

"She'll try to influence her, come on…" With Ikkaku leading the charge, the Shinigami all vanished from the room as fast as they had entered it.

When no one but Kon and Yuzu were left, the plushie glared at her, still trying to wipe marker off his face. "Never again. I don't care how good my ratings are when I have her on, I don't care what anyone tries to bribe me with, I don't care how hard it will be for anyone to find out; never again. I am never having that woman on my show again!"

"But then how will she announce new stories?" Yuzu asked with a frown. "How will she tell people about polls?"

"She'll have to find another way!"

THE END

* * *

AN: In my opinion, the first one of these I wrote is by far the funniest, and although the other two are okay they're just not as good. So I'm gonna try and come up with a different omake format for my next part like this, we'll see what happens. Hope this was still enjoyable.


	13. Omake2: Sequel Announcement

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while.

**For those who don't like reading omake, or who won't read through the end of the AN: The sequel is called "Until the Last Breath" and the first part should be out in a day or two. It's mostly IchiHime, but will have all the couples from the series, and will have parts that focus only on those other characters.**

_

* * *

_

Special Omake (aka sequel announcement)

_Fun with the Shinigami Women's Association_

"But, Callie-chan, if Kon won't let you on his show anymore how are you going to announce sequels and things for your fanfic?" Yachiru questioned as she perched slightly awkwardly on the author's shoulder.

Callista shifted uncomfortably. Although the young fukutaicho was by no means heavy, Callista had a much more slender build than the person who usually carted the girl around. "I told you, someone let me in on a secret. So I'm playing a trick… if…." She trailed off, a frustrated note entering her voice.

"If what?" Rukia questioned. Like most of her friends she was uncertain as to why the author had sent a note to the Shinigami Women's Association telling them to meet on a certain night on Earth.

"If I can ever find the karaoke bar!" Callista said in an exasperated tone as she pulled out her cell phone and pulled up her GPS app.

"That way!" Yachiru cried as she pointed randomly, only to be ignored by everyone. The reason they'd been traveling in ever-shrinking circles for the past half-hour was that the author hadn't realized the girl clinging to her had no idea where they was going.

"Okay, we're only one block off." Callista said after a moment, leading the women around the block to the front of the bar, smiling to herself at what she knew was to come. "Now, I purpously got Urahara-san to make gigai that look nothing like any of you, so as long as you can keep your reiatsu locked-down none of the guys will know we're here. If Yachiru-chan hadn't gotten us lost, we'd have gotten to see the whole show, but we should be in time for my trick, at least."

"Guys?" Rangiku perked up. "Show?"

"The Shinigami Men's Association is here tonight, and well, let's just say it will be entertaining."

"The SMA is at a karaoke bar?" Rukia grabbed Callista's arm to pull her to a halt. She was one of the only Shinigami who had recently lived on Earth for long enough to know what that was.

Callista grinned and nodded, and Rukia shared a smirk with her as the women filed into the bar just as Renji walked up onto the stage and took the mike.

There was a burst of static from the speaker system, and the lights in the entire bar flickered for a moment. Before anyone could comment, the static cleared and the music began.

A deep, throbbing rap beat filled the bar as the red-head stared at the display screen in confusion before shrugging. Then he began to rap.

"_Yo, everyone, come an' listen to me_

_There's a bran' new story that you need to see_

_It's got Ichigo, Rukia, Hime-chan and more_

_I can promise you it won't be a bore_

_So many people loved "I'll Stand By You"_

_That Callista knew what she needed to do_

_But so many other stories were popular as well_

_And then in her head went off a bell_

_She broke her own rules, it took some nerve_

_But it gave her the ending all the characters deserve_

_IchiHime is what she started to write_

_But others characters kept creeping in… like this could happen or that might…._

_IchiHime, ByaRan, HitsuKarin, RenRuk, ShuNan_

_And more_

_Read about all the characters who star in "After The Winter War"_

The music stopped abruptly as the lights flickered again, and the words on the screen faded away.

Renji stared blankly at the screen for a moment before he felt an explosion of reiatsu from the back of the bar.

And ignoring the laughs, hoots, and catcalls from the women who had dropped the cloaks on their reiatsu, Renji turned to the table closest to the bar, where all of the other guys in his group were seated, and screamed at them.

"Okay, who had the idea to come to a karaoke bar? AND WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SING?"

The End

AN: So yeah, sequel time. I've been spending too much time on FLOL, and my muse really wants to write more IchiHime. I knew after deciding I was done with Radio Kon that I wanted to do either the Men's or Women's Shinigami Association for my next announcement, and this fic let me do both. As the song says, this will mostly be an IchiHime story, a sequel to "I'll Stand By You," but it will also be a sort-of epilogue for all the other stories. (Minus Hanabi, which is several years later, but that is very HitsuKarin and doesn't really let you know what happens to any of the other characters.)

It was inspired by the con I was at this past weekend. I cosplayed Yachiru, and ended up running around with two Kenpachi cosplayers for about three hours. They foolishly let me lead. I was actually on one of their backs for a while, and as we wandered would randomly point and yell 'that way' and they would both just go where I said. Lots of laughs. So that's where that bit came from. Also at the con, there was anime karaoke. It's always fun to see cosplayers singing something from a different series, or something just totally OOC for the character they are playing. Although Renji doing rap doesn't seem that odd to me… The song is original, and goes to a rap beat that's been stuck in my head for the past 12 hours. I'd say I wish you could hear it while you're reading the words, but I don't want anyone else to get it stuck in their heads, lol.

The new story is called "Until the Last Breath" and the first part should be out in a day or two.


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